


Cooper-feit

by ScorpioGirl1987



Category: Glee, White Collar
Genre: Action, Drama, Family, Friendship, M/M, Mystery, Romance, Suspense, Thriller
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-19
Updated: 2013-08-25
Packaged: 2017-12-24 01:01:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/933259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScorpioGirl1987/pseuds/ScorpioGirl1987
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cooper is mistaken for Neal Caffrey when Caffrey's father's enemies plot revenge against him and is kidnapped. The FBI work with Phil to find Cooper and the kidnappers. Meanwhile, Neal must masquerade as Cooper to keep his family safe in case they're used as leverage. Can Neal pull this off, or will people get suspicious? Klaine included. Rated to be safe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Stand at window

Sip drink

Stare out window

Get lost in thought

Sip

Stare

Think

Make fun at how boring this routine is all you want, but, Neal finds it therapeutic. He usually does this after or during some big drama like chasing down unrequited romances and avoiding Kramer. This particular drama happened to be that Neal found out that "Sam" is his real father.

Or should he even call him that?

Neal sighed deeply and raised his glass to no one in particular. "Here's to family." He muttered under his breath. "Real and surrogate. Who knew surrogate families were better?" He took a drink. "Here's to friendship. Probably the most sane of relationships. And here's to love. Kate, Sara, and Maya should know something about that. Hmm." Neal finished off his glass, stripped to his underwear, and flopped on his bed. Sleep sounds welcoming after these tiring three weeks.

Sam...or James- whatever his name is- is now living in the safe house Mozzie provided outside of New York. Peter was cordial, but, he still worried about James being back in Neal's life. Will Neal go astray again? He couldn't let that happen. Neal is truly at his best when he's on the FBI's side.

XXX

The next morning, Neal woke up with a slight hangover. He quietly got dressed and ate his breakfast. The silence was broken when he heard his phone ring.

"Hello?" Neal tried to keep the depression out of his voice.

"Hello, is this Nick Holden?" The voice asked.

"Yes. Who's this?"

"Yeah, this is Derek Williams from the Allen County, Ohio Storage Unit. You moved some 'treasures' you called it in here eight years ago."

Neal's mouth formed an "Oh." shape as he remembered. "Right. I paid for eight years."

"Yep. The eight-year date is up on Friday. I was just calling to remind you." Derek said.

"All right. Thanks so much for reminding me." Neal said sincerely.

"You're welcome. Have a good day."

"You, too. Bye." Neal hung up, exhaled sharply, and checked his account on his computer. Hmm. He didn't have enough to pay for one more month. Maybe he can borrow money from Peter? He'd probably hold it over his head for the rest of their lives, but...well, it's worth a shot.

XXX

Neal put a smile on his face as he walked through the FBI bullpen towards Peter's office. He was just finishing up a phone call when Neal knocked on his door. Peter gestured for him to come in.

"Morning, Neal." Peter greeted as he gathered up some papers.

"Morning." Neal sat down. "So...I have a problem."

Peter stopped what he was doing and studied Neal intently. He rarely came to him with problems. It must be big. "I'm listening."

"Four years ago, I told you I hid away some things Mozzie, Kate, and I stole and some personal items. I told Mozzie I hid it in Seattle. I told Kate I hid it in Vegas." Neal explained.

"So, where did you hide it?" Peter asked.

"In a smallish mid-western town called Lima. It's in Ohio." Neal revealed.

"Why there of all places?" Peter wondered.

"Because it's the last place anyone would look." Neal explained. "I only knew of the town because I studied a map of Ohio when I passed through. I'd never been there, so I stashed everything in a storage unit there. Paid the guy enough to hold the stuff for eight years."

"And now your eight years are up." Peter surmised. Neal nodded. "And...you don't have enough money to pay for a month longer." Neal nodded again. "Well, I'm happy to help." He opened up his checking account. "How much do you need?"

Neal was surprised. "As much as this pleasantly surprises me, I was actually thinking of just getting rid of it."

"Seriously? You don't want to keep anything?"

"No." Neal sighed. "I honestly would rather just leave the past behind."

Peter smiled at Neal and nodded in understanding. "You know, storage transactions are usually done in person."

"Okay, so...do we send one of our agents to go, or...I could send Mozzie." Neal suggested.

"I was actually thinking we could go." Peter replied.

Neal lifted up his anklet-clad ankle. "I think Lima's well outside my radius."

"I think if I can persuade Hughes long enough, I can convince him to let me take you there for a couple of days to get rid of your treasures." Peter said, smiling. "Come on. You need a vacation."

Well, he does have a point. Neal nodded slowly. "Okay. Sure. Thanks." He paused. "Have you ever... have you ever wished you lived a normal life? A wife and kids?"

Peter was surprised. That was random. What brought that up? "Well, I do like my job. I have thought about having kids, but...well...you saw what happened to Elizabeth. I don't want to take that risk with children. Why? Have you?"

Neal shrugged. "I toyed with the idea of starting a family with Kate and later, Sara. But...it's not in the cards. I mean, if I'm ashamed of my father, imagine what my child would think of me."

"You're not that bad, Neal." Peter assured him. "What matters is who you are now. I'm pretty sure if you did have a kid, that kid would be proud of you for at least changing your ways."

Neal smiled widely. "Aww, thanks." He stood up. "I'll get right on to my assignment. Talk to you later." He turned to leave, but turned back around. "Oh, by the way- this conversation never happened. You understand." He winked and left.

Peter just shook his head and chuckled quietly. Oh, Neal...

XXX

Cooper sighed as he sat down in his airplane seat. He was on his way to Lima, Ohio. Being an actor was fun and all, but lately...he's been having trouble finding a gig. The entertainment industry is very competitive (especially with the economy!), and there are lots more experienced actors out there ("But how am I supposed to get more experience if they won't give me the chance?" Cooper complained to his agent.). He was feeling down on his luck, so, he booked a flight to Ohio. Maybe his brother (although slightly insecure himself) can pick him up again. That thought cheered him up. A little.

"You know, you'd think after all these years they'd make airline food more edible." Said the passenger next to Cooper.

Cooper snapped out of his thoughts. "Yeah. I mean, isn't that what food critics are for?" They both laughed.

"So what is bringing you to Ohio?"

"Family." Cooper replied. He smiled at the woman. "You probably recognize me. I'm pretty famous."

The woman stared at Cooper intently. Her brow furrowed and she shook her head. "No. I'm afraid not. Are you an actor or something?"

"Yeah, actually." Cooper tried not to get too excited.

"Oh!" The woman raised her eyebrows. "What are you in?"

"A commercial series." Cooper grinned. "Free Credit Rating Today?"

The woman tried not to look too confused. "Oh. I'm sorry. I'm afraid I haven't seen that."

"Oh." Cooper nodded, trying not to look disappointed. He's been trying to get into a big box office hit movie or TV series, but...well... he wanted everyone to know who he is. He wanted his name in lights.

The rest of the flight felt long. Once he got off the termanal, Cooper called Blaine.

"Hey, Big Brother." Blaine said cheerfully through his phone.

"Hey, Squirt. I just landed. I'll be home soon." Cooper replied, trying to sound happy.

"Okay. Well, I have Glee practice until five, so I'll pick up dinner." Blaine replied.

"Sounds great." Cooper smiled.

"Okay, well, I gotta go to class, but I'll see you tonight."

"Okay, bye." Cooper sighed and hung up. Blaine sounded happier than he was not three months ago after he and Kurt broke up. Now they're back together, and Blaine is back to being his happy self.

...Well, at least one of them is happy.

XXX

A tall, stocky man in his late sixties walked into a room occupied by three other men. "Bennet is back."

"And I'm guessing you're still pissed at him." One man nodded.

The first man raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't you be, Clark? If he murdered your lifelong friend in cold blood, and ruined your life, wouldn't you want revenge?"

"All right, I understand, Phil." Clark raised his hands in surrender. "So, what's your plan?"

Phil walked to the window with his hands behind his back. "I want him to pay dearly. I want him to feel what he most likely felt. I want him to suffer."

"So...we kill him?"

"No. That would be taking the easy way out." Clark replied. He was in deep thought for a moment. "Look up his bio to see if he has any family."

Clark obeyed. After a few minutes, Bennet's bio was pulled up. "Let's see...his wife died fifteen years ago from drug overdose...but, he has a son." He pulled up the son's bio and his eyes widened. "Jesus Christ. It's Neal Caffrey."

Phil turned around in surprised. "Ex-con artist turned CI Neal Caffrey?"

Clark nodded. "Says here he currently lives in New York. He escaped arrest three times."

"Well...we'll make sure he doesn't this time." Phil smiled evilly.

Clark found a number to call. "Yes, I'm looking for Neal Caffrey. This is Jack Barnes calling. I'm an old friend of his from high school."

"He is actually out of town at the moment. May I take a message?" Asked the voice.

"Oh. Is he in Missouri? 'Cause that's where I live."

"No, actually, he's in Ohio. Can I take a message?"

"No thanks. I'll call back in a week or something. Thanks, anyway. Bye." He hung up and sighed. "He's in Ohio."

"Oh. That narrows it down to about...what- five hundred cities and towns?" Phil turned around and raised an eyebrow.

Clark got onto another socket. "Cross-referencing Ohio with all of Neal's aliases..." He sighed. "Well, he visited Lima eight years ago as Nick Holden."

"Check with the FAA to see if he landed there."

XXX

Neal and Peter watched as the worker opened up the storage garage. In it were about fifty boxes dusty and untouched.

"What is all this stuff?" Peter asked, looking around.

"Uh...household items, knicknacks, artwork...some jewelry...some personal pictures." Neal answered. He paused. "All right. Let's return some of this stuff to their respective owners, and sell the rest on Ebay. I bought some of it, so..." He shook his head.

"You don't want to keep any of it?" Peter asked.

"No. Too many memories of Kate." Neal nodded firmly.

"All right. Let's make an inventory of everything here, thenwe'll return what you stole to the FBI and ship your personal items to New York so you can sell it online."

"Sure."

XXX

A few hours later, they were done. They had the remaining boxes shipped to Neal's apartment in New York.

"Okay...since there's not a flight or train back to New York until tomorrow, I checked us into a hotel." Peter replied. "Do you wanna just head there, or...?"

"I wanna explore the town a bit. It's been a while since I've been here." Neal revealed.

Peter nodded. "Okay. Let's park somewhere downtown and explore."

"Great."

XXX

Cooper clutched a bag in one hand and a cell phone in the other. His jacket was slung over one arm. His luggage was lost, and he didn't have any clothes at home. Everything from home was taken to LA to his apartment. He dialed a number.

"Hey, you've reached Blaine Anderson. I'm sorry I missed your call. Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible."

Cooper sighed. 'Sure. Get mad at me for not answering...' "Hey, so, since you didn't answer I'm just going to find another little brother to hang out with. Nah, just kidding. Anyway, call me back. Bye." He hung up his phone, but wasn't watching where he was going. He collided with another man his height.

"Oof!" He dropped his bag, jacket, and phone.

"God. Sorry." The man said. He knelt down and set his jacket down to help pick up the fallen contents.

Cooper sighed. "This is just not my day." He stood up and picked up his jacket. Neal picked his jacket up and stood. The two men stared at each other in shock. They look almost exactly alike except that Cooper looks a little younger and his hair is darker and shorter than Neal's. "Whoa. Are we related?"

"I don't know. Does the names Bennet or Caffrey mean anything to you?" Neal asked.

Cooper shook his head. "Do the names Anderson and Mendoza mean anything to you?"

"Nope." Neal shook his head. "Weird. We look like twins. Are you in your thirties?"

"No. Late twenties." Cooper replied. "Okay, well, I gotta go. Namaste."

"See ya." Neal turned to walk back to where he left Peter, who was walking back to him.

"Make any new friends?" Peter joked.

Neal chuckled. "No, I don't think I did."

Peter nodded. He noticed something different. "That is not your jacket."

Neal checked the jacket. "Dammit. It's his jacket." He ran off towards where he met the other man.

"Neal!" Peter called after him.

Neal saw the other man walking towards the end of the street. Two men were carrying a long table out of a building in front of Neal. Two men jumped out of a black van and grabbed Neal's lookalike.

"It's me. We have Caffrey." One man said.

Neal's eyes widened. 'Oh, crap. They think that other guy is me!' He managed to get past the table and ran towards the black van as it drove off. "WAIT!" He yelled out helplessly.


	2. Chapter 2

Peter caught up to Neal who was trying not to panic. "Okay, what just happened here?"

"Someone got kidnapped. They thought he was me." Neal answered.

Peter sighed and pulled out his phone to call the police. "This is Agent Peter Burke. I'd like to report a kidnapping." Neal searched through his look-alike's jacket and found his driver's license and showed it to Peter. "Caucasian male, about five-eleven, light brown hair, blue eyes, late twenties. I found his ID. His name is Cooper Anderson. …. All right. Thank you." He hung up and was about to say something to Neal, when Neal's phone rang.

"Diana, what's up? Please tell me you have good news." Neal replied.

"Sort of." She replied. "An old friend of yours, Jack Barnes called for you. He said he knew you from high school."

Color drained from Neal's face. High School was a blurry memory for him now, but he can not for the life of him remember a Jack Barnes. "Diana, what name did he refer me as?"

"...Neal Caffrey." Diana said with confusion.

'That was not my name in high school...' Neal sighed. "Diana, when did he call?"

"Yesterday. Why?"

"Diana, whoever asked for me planned on kidnapping me for some reason." Neal revealed.

"What?!"

"They kidnapped someone who looks like me instead. Peter and I are in Lima, Ohio." Neal went on.

"Let me talk to Peter."

Neal handed Peter his phone. "It's Diana."

"Diana." Peter answered.

Neal searched through the jacket and found a car key. He looked around and saw a few cars parked along the street. He started walking and clicking the lock. The lights on a gray prius lit up. Neal clicked the lock again, locking it. Peter caught up with him again.

"Okay, it looks like someone planned on abducting you. Any idea why?"

Neal thought about that. "They planned on my abduction after Flynn's death...this can't be a coincidence."

"You think this is payback?" Peter asked.

"That or...they're finishing what Flynn started." Neal replied. "I really have nothing to do with what happened so many years ago. So they...they're using me against my dad. No...they're using Cooper against my dad. Dammit."

"Okay. Let's head to the FBI office in Cleveland. We'll take it from there."

"All right. I'll drive Cooper's car there. We can't just leave it here."

Peter knew Neal only wanted to drive the car, but decided not to say anything. "Okay. I'll meet you there."

Neal got into Cooper's car and drove off. He called James on his own phone.

"Neal." James greeted happily.

"Dad, listen very carefully. The people who killed Flynn were planning to kidnap me and possibly use me against you." Neal explained. "They ended up kidnapping someone who looks like me."

"Oh my God." James sighed and rubbed his forehead. He was glad Neal was safe, but...poor look-alike. "Well, that must be awkward for the kidnappers."

"Yeah, no kidding." Neal rolled his eyes. "The FBI are on the case. I'm actually in Ohio. I was going to clean out my storage there when it happened."

"Oh...okay, well, I'm certainly glad you called before they did." James replied.

"Me too. Dad...this guy...he could have a family. Maybe a wife and young children." Neal said softly. "We need to make sure he gets out of this alive."

James was silent for a minute. "I think I know what you're asking. I'll string them along."

"Thank you. We'll work with the FBI on this."

"No! Neal, the FBI might be compromised!" James cried. "There are corrupt cops out there. Besides, the guys we're dealing with- they really don't like cops. If we involve them, your look-alike won't last a day!"

"Okay, so...what- we just solve this ourselves?" Neal asked.

"It's pretty much the only way." James shrugged.

Neal threw his head back and sighed. "Okay. I'll let Peter know. We can work with Diana, Jones, and Mozzie from Ohio."

"Good. Please keep me informed."

"You too." Neal hung up and called Peter. "Hey, I just talked to James. He'll string the kidnappers along."

"Well, I hope so." Peter replied.

"Also, we can't involve the police. There might be moles all over, and these guys really don't like cops." Neal revealed.

Peter pulled his phone away in shock for a second. "Neal, I just called the police not ten minutes ago!"

"I know. Is there any chance they might write it off as a prank or ignore it? I mean...if there really are moles..."

"For once...I sure hope so." Peter said. "Okay. I'll cancel our appointment with the head of the FBI. We'll go back to the hotel and regroup."

"Okay. Sounds like a plan."

XXX

Cooper woke up to find himself tied to a chair in a dark room lit only by a hanging lamp. Three men dressed all in black surrounded him.

"What do you want from me?" Cooper asked, trying not to sound scared.

"Well, Caffrey, if you're anything like your father, you would know." One man stepped forward.

"I'm not this Caffrey person." Cooper replied. "I'm Cooper Anderson. I'm a commercial actor."

The man pulled out Neal's wallet and threw it on Cooper's lap. "This was in your jacket. You're not fooling anyone, Caffrey!"

Cooper paled. He had a flashback of himself accidentally colliding with a man who looks exactly like him. Is he...? Oh, dear god. "Look, I swear- you have the wrong guy! I-I bumped into Caffrey an hour ago. He must have grabbed my jacket and I grabbed his!"

"Sure. We believe you." The man nodded, obviously not believing him. He turned to the other men. "Get his father on the phone."

XXX

James paced the floor of the kitchen. The safe-house was fairly small and quaint. It was squeaky clean and mess-free. He wondered when the men were going to call. What if they figure out that 'Neal' is really his look-alike? Will they find the real Neal and kidnap him? Just then, his phone rang.

"Hello?" James answered.

"Hello, Bennett." A low, raspy voice said over the phone. "I believe I have something of yours."

"Really?"

The man pressed the phone against Cooper's ear. "Say something."

Cooper sighed. "Hello?"

James gasped, hoping he'd sound genuine. "Neal?"

"I'm going to make this short and sweet." The man said. "If you don't agree to do exactly as I say, your son will die a slow and painful death."

James' heart hammered in his chest. He was so glad it wasn't the real Neal. "All right. What do you want me to do?"

"You'll find out soon enough. We'll keep in touch." The man replied. "Oh, and by the way, if you involve anyone in this, your son dies. You do anything to piss me off, your son dies. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." James replied. "Please don't hurt him."

"We won't." He hung up.

James sighed. 'Neal...lots of luck, kid.'

XXX

At the hotel, Neal and Peter started brainstorming.

"Okay, so Diana is covering for us. She and Jones and Mozzie are all on their way with equipment." Peter said.

"Good." Neal searched through the contents of Cooper's phone. "I found his facebook. Both parents are alive and live here in Lima and he has one younger brother, Blaine. And he's single. Thank God. If he had a wife or girlfriend, then she'd be cheating on him with me."

"Yeah, no kidding." Peter shook his head and chuckled. He sobered up. "He apparently came to Lima to visit his family. Oh, God, what are we going to tell them?"

Neal considered that. Since the police can't be involved, it would be tough to explain to the Andersons why their son was kidnapped and why they can't go to the police.

"Well...he was kidnapped, because he was mistaken for me." Neal said slowly. His wheels started turning.

Peter noticed. "Neal...you're not thinking...of masquerading as Cooper."

"Hey, at least it wouldn't be for any dastardly or evil reasons!" Neal insisted. "It's to keep that family safe and to get Cooper out of this mess!"

Peter sighed and bowed his head. "Okay. I don't think this will work, but I trust you. I just hope you know what you are doing."

"So do I." Neal sighed.

XXX

After a bit of research, Neal found Cooper's address and drove there. No one was home, and they don't have any pets. The house is a quaint 1940's style house with a wraparound porch. The door had a large oval shaped window in the middle. The house has a small entryway with the living room to Neal's left, a staircase in front of him, and a hallway next to the staircase. He opened the door to let himself in, and an alarm went off! Neal groaned slightly. How could he have missed that?! He quickly pulled out Cooper's phone and called Blaine.

"Coop?"

"Blaine, what's the alarm code?" He asked loudly.

"It's the last four digits of our home phone number!" Blaine yelled over the phone.

"Thanks!" Neal replied. "Gotta go." He hung up and looked up the home phone number and punched in the last four digits. He sighed in relief as the noise stopped. He just realized that Blaine gave his alarm code to a complete stranger...without realizing it. Oh well. Neal explored the house to familiarize himself with his surroundings. He hoped that the Andersons will buy that he's really Cooper. Otherwise, this operation will be shot to hell.

XXX

At around five, Mark and Raphaela- Raffi for short- Anderson came through the door chatting. Neal was up in Cooper's bedroom going through his computer in order to officially and successfully pass himself off as Cooper. He took a deep breath.

'Well, here goes.' He thought. He walked downstairs to meet his- well, Cooper's- parents in the kitchen.

"Cooper!" Raffi exclaimed. She ran to give her 'son' a hug. "It's been so long, darling. Oh." She pulled away and cupped his face. "We're so sorry we have to leave tonight. Are you here long?"

"I'm...not sure, actually." Neal shrugged. Wow. She can't tell she's not talking to her real son?

"We'll be back in two weeks." Mark nodded, putting away his cell phone.

"Where's Blaine?" Raffi asked.

Just then, the door opened. "Coop? Dinner is served! You still like sweet and sour chicken, right?" Blaine walked into the kitchen and stopped dead in his tracks. His stomach dropped and he hid the bag behind his back. "Mom! Dad. You're home early."

Mark folded his arms and stared disapprovingly down at Blaine. "Blaine...you know we like to have home cooked meals while we're in town."

"I'm sorry." Blaine said sincerely, avoiding Mark's glare.

Neal looked at Blaine's hopeless expression and decided to step in. "It's my fault, Dad." Blaine and Mark looked at Neal in shock. "I forgot that you guys like home-cooked meals, so I begged Blaine to get Chinese. I should have been more considerate. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted, dear." Raffi said before her husband could speak. "I'll just whip up a little something. How about that?" Everyone else nodded. "Great! And then, after wards, the boys can perform for us."

"Uh, what? Why?" Neal asked without thinking.

"We always do, Cooper. It's kind of a tradition." Blaine answered. He took the bag of takeout and put it in the fridge.

"...Right. Um...so...we take turns singing, or...?" Neal asked. He really does not like to sing.

"Why so nervous, Coop? You love performing!" Blaine exclaimed.

"Uh, no!" Neal scoffed. "Come on...I'm Cooper Anderson for crying out loud!"

Blaine smiled and rolled his eyes. "There's the Cooper we all know and love."

XXX

Raffi managed to cook up some spaghetti, garlic bread, and salad. The family sat down to eat.

"So, Cooper, how's that acting job of yours coming?" Mark asked casually.

"Oh. Uh, it's great. I'm still trying out for movies and TV series." Neal nodded.

"Your income is good?"

"Yeah. Totally." Neal smiled and nodded. He looked around the table. Mark looked politely interested and Raffi looked genuinely interested. Blaine just looked bored and slightly irritated. "But, enough about me. Tell me about you guys! So, you're going out of town, huh?"

"Yes. There are a few business meetings in Paris and one in Rome." Mark explained.

"Emergency numbers are by the fridge, by the way." Raffi told the boys.

"Okay." Blaine replied.

"So, Blaine, what are you up to lately?" Neal asked.

"Well, Kurt and I are back together, and New Directions is preparing for our Nationals competition. It's going to be in New York on Memorial Day weekend." Blaine said pointedly looking around at his family. "It's also my very last performance in high school, since I'm graduating the first Saturday in June."

"Oh, we'll be there for both. Right, guys?" Neal looked at Blaine's parents.

"I think we'll be out of town on those days." Mark said dismissively.

Blaine's shoulders sagged in disappointment and rejection. Neal noticed. "Well, I'll be in town. Where can I buy tickets?"

Blaine looked up at his 'brother' in surprise. "Uh...the secretary at school. I think."

"All right." Neal replied. He finished off his drink, stood up and was about to carry off his dishes, when Raffi stopped him.

"Oh, sweetie, don't worry about the dishes. Blaine will do them. You must still be jetlagged."

"No, I'm not. I really don't mind doing them." Neal shrugged.

"No, Coop, it's fine." Blaine stood up. "I wouldn't want to be more of a family disappointment, so, I'll do them." He started carrying the plates to the kitchen.

Raffi sighed and rubbed her forehead. Mark cleared his throat. "Excuse me." He left and headed upstairs.

'Wow. Messed up family is messed up.' Neal thought. He turned to Raffi. "So...I'm guessing Blaine and Dad don't get along."

"Nope. Ever since Blaine came out, they've always fought or just plain did not get along." Raffi explained. "I never understood why he is always so distant with us. We didn't kick him out after he came out, and we gave him everything he wanted."

Neal nodded. "Okay. I'll talk to him."

"Could you? He listens to you." Raffi asked.

"Of course." Neal stood up and took his plate and glass to the kitchen. Blaine rinsed the dishes furiously and shoved them in the dishwasher. Neal walked up to the sink. "Hey, how 'bout this? I'll rinse, you put them in the dishwasher?"

Blaine looked up at Neal with surprise. Who is this guy? He decided to just accept it. When has Cooper ever offered to help, anyway? "Thanks. Not just for helping me, but for taking the heat with Dad earlier."

"Mm-hmm." Neal started rinsing. "So...you and Dad still don't get along, huh?"

"No." Blaine sighed. "Looks like unless I fall in love with and marry someone who does not pee standing up, we'll never get along."

"That's too bad. Well, at least you're going to college soon, right?" Neal asked.

"Yeah." Blaine brightened up. "I'm moving in with Kurt in New York after graduation."

"New York?" Neal asked slightly surprised.

Blaine just rolled his eyes. "I know you don't like New York, but, I am NY bound."

"And Kurt-bound, right?" Neal smirked.

Blaine chuckled and shook his head. "Yes."

Neal shrugged. "I think I can swing it every once in a while."

"You mean, you'll come to visit?" Blaine asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

"Oh, totally." Neal replied and hoped that it is what Cooper would say.

Blaine beamed. "I'd love that. I really would."

Neal smiled and finished rinsing. He had to wonder...if the family knew that Cooper was kidnapped, would that bring Blaine and Mark closer together? Then a thought hit him. "So, does this mean we're not performing?"

XX

Later, Neal found Mark in his home office writing up a few papers. He knocked on the door. "Hey, can I come in?"

"Sure."

Neal sat on the chair in front of the desk. "I know you have a hard time accepting that Blaine is gay. May I ask why?"

Mark sighed and put his pen down. "I don't have a problem with him being gay. I have a problem with him choosing performing arts as a career, transferring to three different schools throughout high school, and throwing himself around at random boys while single."

"Oh. Well, maybe he feels lonely and unappreciated and unloved." Neal suggested. "That would be my guess anyway."

Mark just stared at his 'son'. "Your mother's and my job requires a lot of travel. I'm sorry if he feels abandoned, but that's what puts food on our table and a roof over our heads."

"Okay. I understand." Neal replied. "But...don't you ever wish you could spend more time with your sons?"

"Maybe, but, it's my job." Mark replied. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to finish this before I leave."

"Okay." Neal stood. "Have fun in Paris." He went up to Cooper's bedroom. He could hear Blaine talking/ranting to someone on the phone ("Kurt?" Neal wondered.). After he closed the bedroom door, Neal pulled out his own phone and called Peter. "Hey, it's me. I'm in, and they totally buy me being Cooper."

"...I never thought I'd say this, but, that's good." Peter replied, nodding.

"Yeah." Neal stifled a laugh. "Blaine gave his alarm code to a complete stranger."

"Well, at least that 'complete stranger' means no harm." Peter raised an eyebrow.

"I hate to say it, but...Blaine would make a great target for cons. He is so oblivious." Neal said.

"That's what happens when your parents aren't always around, I guess."

"Hey!" Neal exclaimed.

"I meant any parental figure. Sorry." Peter quickly explained. "You need parents for guidance and comfort."

"Which explains so much about Blaine." Neal shook his head sadly. "Well, that's gonna change. I'll be a big brother to Blaine."

"Well, that should be easy, considering he thinks your his brother anyway." Peter shrugged. "Neal, for Gods' sake, don't corrupt the kid."

"Come on, would I do that?" Neal rolled his eyes.

"Mmm..." Peter said rolling his eyes.

"All right. Don't worry. I'll have him pulling off a heist inside a week." Neal joked.

"Hilarious." Peter said sarcastically. "By the way, Jones, Diana, Mozzie, and James arrived a few minutes ago."

"Okay. Keep me posted." Neal nodded.

"You as well. Let me know if there's anything suspicious."

"Or anyone suspicious." Neal's eyes darted around dramatically.

"You've been hanging out with Mozzie for far too long."

Neal laughed. "Bye, Peter."

"All right. Bye."

Neal hung up and sighed. 'Hope Blaine doesn't see right through me.'


	3. Chapter 3

It took a few minutes for Neal to remember where he was. He sighed and got up. 'Day two.' He heard the shower running and Blaine singing as he went downstairs. The kitchen was full of fruit, protein bars, cereal bars, granola bars, plus a few boxes of healthy choice cereals. He poured himself some Raison Bran and sat at the table. After he put his bowl in the dishwasher, he felt an itch. He lifted the right leg of his boxer shorts to scratch.

"What's that on your thigh?"

Neal snapped up to see Blaine standing in the doorway and hurriedly pulled the leg back down. "What do you mean?"

"There's a circle-shaped bruise on your thigh. It looks like a bullet wound." Blaine said, looking concerned.

"Oh, that." Neal had a flashback of Collings shooting him. "I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. South America isn't as magical and exciting as people claim it to be."

"Yikes. When did this happen?" Blaine walked into the kitchen.

"Last summer. I didn't want to scare you or our parents, so..." Neal shrugged. "I didn't tell anyone."

"Coop, you should have called me. I would have..."

"I-I know, Blainey, and I appreciate that, but I'm fine. Really." Neal smiled to calm Blaine down.

"Well, I'm glad you are." Blaine smiled, relaxed. He chuckled slightly. "You wanna know something funny? Kurt's brother, Finn accidentally shot himself in the thigh last summer, too."

"Wow, what a coincidence." Neal nodded. "How does someone accidentally shoot themselves?"

"By cleaning a gun without unloading it first." Blaine shrugged. "He was in the army."

"Oh, for how long?"

"Sixteen days."

"...Dude, really?" Neal raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it was..." Blaine just shook his head. "Anyway, I'm meeting Kurt for breakfast and my friends and I are going out to lunch. I have Cheerios! Practice until six. So, I'll be home at around six-thirty."

"Busy day." Neal commented.

"Yeah." Blaine sighed. "Thank God it's almost Spring Break."

Neal chuckled. "Yeah. See you later."

"See ya." With that, Blaine left.

Neal's phone rang. "Right on time. Hello?"

"Hey, Cooper. How is everything going?" Peter asked.

"Good. I almost spooked Blaine. He saw me scratch my thigh. The same thigh where Collins shot me." Neal replied.

"How'd you explain that?" Peter raised an eyebrow.

"Told him I was in the wrong place at the wrong time in South America last summer." Neal explained.

"Well, that was partly true." Peter replied. "So, Blaine's still clueless, huh?"

"Yeah. I don't know how I'm going to break it to him if Cooper dies." Neal sighed.

"Well, let's hope it doesn't happen." Peter said. "I'm assuming Blaine is at school."

"Yep. Just headed off to have breakfast with his boyfriend, then he has Glee and Cheerleading practice after school. He'll be surrounded by people, so he'll be safe."

"Good to know. Have you met his boyfriend?"

"No, but I will." Neal replied. "I'll sneak into The Lima Bean for some coffee and introduce myself. I mean...reintroduce Cooper."

"That is...actually, really brotherly." Peter replied impressed. "Make sure you tease Blaine a lot. That's what brothers do."

"Oh, I plan to." Neal smirked. 'This is gonna be fun. I've never had a little brother.'

XXX

"So, NYADA had a fire, huh?"

Blaine and Kurt sat at a table with muffins and coffees in front of them. They also held hands under the table. Kurt nodded. "Yeah. A pipe burst near the auditorium and spread. You should have seen Rachel. She actually saw the flames, screamed like a banshee, covered her mouth, and ran out of there so fast, she tripped and fell down some stairs. She was so worried consuming smoke would severely affect her voice."

"Same old Rachel." Blaine shook his head. Then a thought occurred to him. "Wait- isn't she...?"

"Not anymore." Kurt said solemnly. "I was so looking forward to being an uncle."

"Oh, God..." Blaine said with sympathy. "Kurt, I'm so sorry. For you and Rachel and your families."

"Thanks." Kurt smiled sadly. He sighed. "Finn's upset, but, at least this time, he really was the father."

"Yeah." Blaine nodded. He cleared his throat. "Well, she's going to be okay, right?"

"Well, she swore off sex for the rest of her life, but I think she was just being over dramatic. Yes, it's sad, but, at least she wouldn't do it again." Kurt shrugged.

"True." Blaine nodded.

XX

Neal slinked into the coffeehouse and looked around. Blaine was sitting across from a slightly tall, slim young man in his late teens with pale skin and coiffed medium brown hair. He looked slightly flamboyant, but not too bad. He walked over there.

"Hey, there's my favorite couple!" Neal beamed, grabbed another chair and sat down. He turned to Kurt. "Hey, Kurt."

"Hello, Cooper. How's the life of an actor?" Kurt smiled.

"Fan-freaking-tastic!" Neal replied. "How's life of a Broadway prospect?"

Kurt tried not to blush. "I could use more training."

"Well, that's what NYADA's for." Blaine smiled.

"Oh- speaking of, when's your audition?" Kurt asked.

"Two weeks from today." Blaine answered.

"Ooh, what song are you gonna sing?" Neal asked.

"I was thinking Maria from West Side Story." Blaine replied.

"Good choice." Neal smirked. "Be careful not to say 'Kurt' instead of 'Maria'."

Kurt tried not to chuckle. Blaine shoved his 'brother' playfully. "You jerk."

"Oh, you love me and you know it." Neal ruffled Blaine's hair.

Blaine ducked. "Coo-oop!" He whined and tried to smooth out his hair. "You're mean."

Kurt chuckled into his palm. He studied Cooper. He looked...different. "Did you darken your hair?"

"Uh, yeah, I did." Neal nodded and smiled. "Does it look better that way?"

Kurt shrugged. "It looks great either way." Blaine raised an eyebrow at him. "But not as cute as Blaine's."

Blaine smiled at his boyfriend. "Aww, thanks."

"Awww!" Neal crooned. "You guys are so adorkable."

Blaine glared playfully at Neal. "And you're mean."

Neal huffed playfully. "Well, we can't all be perfect gentlemen."

"Well, if it isn't two men and a lady." The trio turned to see Hunter walking up to them and glaring at Blaine. "So, plotting the destruction of another's life?"

"Excuse me?" Blaine raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, don't act all innocent, hobbit. You know what you did." Hunter glowered. "You got the Warblers disqualified from Regionals and disbanded for life!"

"Hey, you didn't have to use steroids, steal our Nationals trophy, and throw rock salt slushies at people!" Kurt snapped, coming to Blaine's defense. "You ruined your own life."

"Stay out of this, Ladyboy!" Hunter turned and pointed a finger at Kurt, who stood up and glared angrily at the boy. He put his hands on his hips and got in his face.

"You mess with my boyfriend, you mess with me. If you ever come near us again, I will-"

"You'll what?" Hunter challenged. "Challenge me to a singing contest?" He said mockingly. "'Cause that's the solution to everything, isn't it, Hummel?" He turned to the barista who put Splenda in his latte. "You! You put Splenda in my latte. I challenge you to a singing contest!" He dramatically pointed to the ceiling, then doubled over laughing in a mocking tone.

Before he could stop himself, Kurt lunged towards Hunter, but was stopped by Blaine. He grabbed Kurt's waist and moved in front of him. "Kurt! Kurt, hey, he's not worth it." He cupped Kurt's face in his hands. Kurt exhaled sharply and turned.

Neal shook his head, stood up, and walked to the trio. "Okay, let's all be mature adults here." He turned to Blaine. "You get to school." He turned to Kurt. "You take a walk and calm down." Blaine nodded and led Kurt out of the coffeehouse. Neal turned to Hunter. "And as for you...you say Blaine 'ruined your life'? Trust me, kid, you don't know the meaning of that phrase. Now...I'd recommend leaving my brother alone, or you'll be dealing with me. I can be dangerous when I want to." He stared at Hunter, who looked slightly afraid, and walked off.

XXX

Blaine and Kurt walked to Kurt's car. Kurt kicked the tire in frustration and exhaled sharply. "Kurt, don't listen to that asshat." Blaine said calmly.

"I hate him. I hate all of them!" Kurt growled. "God..." He shook his head.

"Kurt, is something else wrong?" Blaine asked. "You've never lashed out like that at anyone. Not even Karofsky."

Kurt took a deep breath. "You should be at school."

"My relationship comes first." Blaine replied. "What's wrong?"

Kurt looked down, blinked away tears, and looked up. "My dad's cancer is spreading. He's on stage three now."

'Wow, that's like the second Hummel Family Bad News feed in less than an hour.' Blaine thought. "Kurt, I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do?"

Kurt shook his head. "Not at this point, but I'll let you know."

"Okay." Blaine pulled Kurt into a tight hug. "It'll be okay."

Kurt exhaled again. "Thanks." He pulled away. "Now, get to school." He smiled. "I'll see you later tonight."

"See ya." They shared a quick kiss and went their separate ways.

XXX

Cooper tried to move, but couldn't. He had to escape! Chains bound his feet and hands to a wall. Who the hell are these guys? And who the hell is this Caffrey person? Was his family worried about him? One of his captors walked in.

"Comfortable? Aww. Good." The man said. "Now, don't bother trying to escape. These chains are made of iron. Outside this door is a gun pointing at it. If you escape, you die."

"What do you want from me- or this Caffrey person?" Cooper asked.

"Revenge." The man said simply. He left.

Cooper exhaled slowly. 'I'm never gonna get out of here...'

XXX

Later that night, Blaine cheerfully made cookies and hummed to himself. Neal was impressed. Doesn't this guy ever like watch TV or play video games. "Wow, you're keeping busy. No homework?"

"Finished it all in Study Hall." Blaine said in a singsong voice. He put some cookies on a plate and turned back to the stove. Neal leaned over the counter. Those chocolate-chip cookies look good. Neal reached for one, but Blaine smacked his hand away. "Ah-ah! Hands off. They're for Kurt."

"Mean." Neal half-joked. Blaine turned back to the stove. He dropped something and bent to pick it up. Neal swiped a cookie and hid it in his sleeve just in time for Blaine to turn around to glare at him. Neal held both hands up in surrender and backed away. Once unseen from Blaine, he chuckled triumphantly and pulled the cookie out from his sleeve and went upstairs.

XX

Kurt arrived five minutes later. Blaine opened the door. "Hey, how's my baby cupcake?" Kurt grinned.

Blaine chuckled and put his arms around his neck. "Better now that you're here." He noticed Kurt's bulging biceps. "Have you been working out?"

Kurt chuckled and shook his head. "No. Just dance classes and lugging around heavy books." He squealed slightly. "I've always wanted to do this." He bent down to pick Blaine's legs up and put them around his waist. Blaine looked around in slight surprise and pulled his arms tighter around Kurt's neck. Kurt struggled a little, but managed to carry Blaine up the stairs. Neal came out of his room in time to see Kurt carry Blaine down the hall.

"Hey, Kurt." Neal greeted.

"Hey, Coop." Kurt greeted back.

"Door open, Blainey!" Neal called. Blaine groaned in frustration. Neal chuckled and went back into Cooper's room.

XX

Blaine and Kurt went at it and made out. Blaine untucked Kurt's shirt and started running his hands under, but Kurt stopped him.

"Mm-mm." Kurt sat up. "Not with your brother right down the hall."

Blaine sighed and rolled over on his back. "I hate my brother."

Kurt chuckled and propped himself up on his elbow. "Remember when Finn walked in on us one time? He walked around with a traumatized look on his face for weeks."

Blaine smiled at the memory. "I'm sorry he was traumatized, but...it was still funny!"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Cooper seems...different."

"Yeah...he never stuck up for me before. He's maturing." Blaine grinned. "A near-death experience can do that to you."

Kurt was confused. "Near-death experience?"

"Oh. Yeah. He was shot in the leg last summer in South America." Blaine explained.

"We visited him in LA last summer." Kurt remembered. \

"Yeah, it must have been after we left." Blaine shrugged.

"So, why didn't he say anything about going to South America?"

"I don't know." Blaine shrugged. He gave Kurt a kiss. "Good-night."

"Wait- you're not curious about this at all? He could be in trouble!" Kurt exclaimed.

"Why would I be? It's his business." Blaine answered. "If he wanted me to know, he would have told me."

Kurt sighed and shook his head. 'And Tina thinks I'm passive? Really?' "Okay. I won't worry about it. I'll see you at Breadstix tomorrow."

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you, too." Kurt left and headed downstairs. He spotted Neal sitting on the couch watching TV topless. Blaine had told him previously that Cooper had appendicitis and had his appendix removed. He sould have a scar, but the Cooper sitting on the couch didn't have one. He cleared his throat to grab Neal's attention. Neal looked his way. "So...I think my brother may be coming down with appendicitis. He's worried and wonders what to expect. Blaine told me you once had appendicitis. Can you tell me what to expect?"

Neal stared at him. He never had appendicitis, thank goodness. Was he getting suspicious? "Uh, well, the right side of your stomach should hurt for a while. It hurts to laugh and move. That's about it."

"Oh." Kurt nodded. "Shouldn't you have a scar?"

"Yeah, but I got dermoplasty and had it covered up last year." Neal nodded. Okay, that was a downright lie, but he had to keep his cover!

"And a few months later, you were shot in South America." Kurt nodded. "What were you doing down there?"

"Why the sudden curiosity?"

"I'm just making conversation." Kurt shrugged and leaned against the doorframe.

"Drinking, swimming, sleeping around."

"Oh. May I ask why you were shot?"

"No. I'd rather not talk about it. It's too embarrassing."

"Okay. Fine. Your business is your business." Kurt said. He left with a funny feeling in the pit of his stomache. 'Something's not right here.'


	4. Chapter 4

'W-o-w. The Andersons sure took a lot of pictures of Cooper.'

Neal was going through the family albums. Most of them contained mostly pictures of Cooper through the years. There were some of Blaine, of course, but not as many as Cooper. Actually...some of Blaine's pictures would be excellent blackmail material. He put away the album and his phone rang.

"Yo!" Neal answered.

"Hey, Coop. So...I'm probably going to regret this, but Mr. Schue heard you were back in town and he was wondering if you would be willing to give another Master Class this afternoon. I already told them you would, so..."

Neal panicked. He knew nothing about show choir! Or acting! "Wait- without asking me first? What if I had plans?"

Blaine went quiet. "Oh...do you have plans? I didn't know..."

"No...no, I didn't." Neal sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Well...if he didn't agree, then his cover might be blown. "Sure. Uh...it's an acting master class, right?"

"Yep. Just like you gave last year." Blaine answered. "And I promise not to yell at you this time."

Neal chuckled. "Okay. Um...what's the address again?"

XXX

"You're giving a what?!"

Neal called Peter on his way to McKinley. Peter tried not to laugh.

"Well, if I didn't agree, Blaine will think something's up." Neal shrugged.

"And he wasn't able to pick up on anything else?"

"Not really..." Neal admitted. "I'll wing it. I have some acting skills. I have to, since...well, you know..."

"Right." Peter nodded. "Well, good luck and let me know how it goes."

"All right. Any leads on Cooper?"

"Not since you asked me yesterday." Peter replied. "We're thinking that...okay, you said they headed north from where he was taken, right?"

"Right."

"Then we have a general area, but then again, he could have turned around." Peter replied. "We're still looking up the license plates and the car."

"Okay. Talk to you later." Neal hung up and stepped outside. He figured since Cooper is a celebrity, he would disguise himself, so he wore a fedora and sunglasses. It took him a while, but he finally found the choir room. The room was filled with twelve teenagers including Blaine ranging from about sixteen to eighteen. A man around Neal's age saw him, smiled, and gestured for him to come in.

"Guys, I have a surprise for you: here to give a second masterclass, Cooper Anderson!" Will said. He and the students who were here the year before applauded.

"Aren't you in a cheesy free credit rating commercial?" Kitty asked.

"Why, yes, I am!" Neal winked and smiled. "I'm also Blaine's older brother."

"Oh. Are you gay, too?" Kitty asked again.

"Yeah, because homosexuality runs in the family." Tina said sarcastically.

"No, I'm straight, but I'm not a homophobe, either." Neal winked.

"Oh, burn." Marley and Jake muttered.

"Okay, so... who here remembers what I taught you in the last masterclass?" Neal asked. Tina, Artie, Sam, Brittany, Sugar, Joe, and Blaine all raised their hands. "Okay...pop quiz time. What's the first rule of acting?"

"Pointing during a dramatic scene." Brittany spoke up.

"Ignoring whatever the other actor is doing." Tina said.

"Speaking loudly to be intense." Sam put in.

'Oh my God, Cooper. What the hell did you teach these children?' Neal stood speechless for a few seconds, then regained his composure. "Good job. I'm afraid I didn't elaborate on why you should do those things and when would be a good time for those actions. You do need to speak loudly so your audience can hear you, and if your scene partner is overacting or acting badly, you can't focus too much on them, or you'll lose focus. As for pointing...pointing is good. You know, when your character is mad at his or her companion or he or she is accusing someone of something. Or just plain being dramatic."

"So, can you give us any other acting advice?" Tina asked.

"For one thing, you want your scene to be believable, right?" Neal asked. "Then you need to really delve into your character. Identify with your character and your scene partner. Some of the best acting comes from truth. Example: if you're doing a sad scene, think of something sad you went through in your life."

"You also said college is a waste of time, and to not go to New York because theater is lame and Broadway is dead." Sugar spoke up.

'Oh, goddammit, Cooper!' Neal nodded and quickly thought up a story. "Yeah...heh...I was hoping you wouldn't remember that. See...the reason I told you that is because I had some bad experiences there. I got rejected over and over by Broadway and off-Broadway shows. I was still pissed off at them, so I just told you guys that theater is lame and Broadway is dead to save you from the heartache I went through."

"Wow. So you took it out on us by lying." Kitty commented snidely.

"Well, at least he's owning up to his mistake." Tina said pointedly at Kitty. "And at least he never forced anybody into an eating disorder, you know...right before a competition." She turned, winked, and gave her a look of disgust.

"Oh, you're just mad because yet another one of your solos got interrupted." Kitty rolled her eyes.

"And how many solos did you get, Shitty?" Tina snapped.

"Ohhh!" Jake and Ryder exclaimed.

Neal gave Blaine a look that said "Are they always like this?". Blaine just smiled and shrugged sheepishly.

"Guys! We have a guest in here." Will stepped forward. "You're all acting like children!"

"We are children!" Ryder exclaimed. "Well, except for some of the seniors, anyway."

"You know what, Tina? You are pathetic!" Kitty snapped at her.

"I'm pathetic- Kurt's pathetic?! We're not the ones dating our ex-boyfriends' older brother!" Tina yelled at Kitty.

"Um, Kurt and I are back together..." Blaine replied. "And what brought Kurt up?"

"Well, you know what they say: can't have him? Date his brother." Kitty replied, folding her arms.

Tina turned around to look at Cooper. Kitty may be a slutty, beyond bitchy, manipulative, coniving, insensitive... but she does have a point there. And Cooper is super super cute.

XXX

After the masterclass, Blaine had Cheerios practice. He was sore and aching by the time it was over. The house looked dark except for a light in the kitchen. He walked into the house and heard a soft thump.

'Robbers! They'll never see me coming.' Blaine slowly and quietly put down his duffel bag and pulled out an umbrella. He slowly crept to the kitchen. There was a short, almost-bald man standing at the table pouring wine. Blaine lifted his umbrella to strike and cleared his throat to grab the stranger's attention. The man turned around.

"AAAH!"

"AAAH!" Blaine yelled, startled and waving the umbrella.

"AAAHHH!"

Blaine composed himself and aimed the umbrella at the stranger. "Who are you? What are you doing in my house?"

Neal walked into the kitchen. "Blaine, is that you? Oh, I see you met Mozzie."

Blaine turned to his 'brother'. "What?"

"Blaine, this is my friend Mozzie or Moz for short. Mozzie, this is my brother Blaine." Neal introduced.

Blaine sighed, relaxed, and lowered his umbrella. "I know all your friends. This guy doesn't seem familiar."

"I'm more of an acquaintance than a friend." Mozzie jumped in. "We've only known each other a short while."

Blaine looked at Mozzie then at Neal for comfirmation. Neal nodded. Blaine sighed again and turned to Mozzie, feeling guilty. "Oh. I'm sorry I almost attacked you. I thought I was being robbed."

"Oh. Don't even apologize. I always say 'you need to be on your guard at all times'." Mozzie replied. "You never know when someone might strike." His eyes darted side to side.

Blaine looked at Mozzie weirdly and glanced at Neal, who just shrugged and smiled. He nodded. "I'll remember that."

"Good!"

The doorbell rang. Blaine headed to answer it. "Hey, Tina."

"Hey!" Tina greeted. She had her hands behind her back and her eyes traveled to the object in Blaine's hand. "Um...why are you holding an umbrella?"

Blaine glanced at the umbrella and tossed it aside. "Oh Heh. I thought my house was being robbed, but it turned out to be one of Cooper's friends."

"Oh." Tina nodded. "Um, so...I guess Cooper is busy right now?"

"I'm sure he can spare a few minutes. Why?" Blaine asked.

Tina smiled and pulled out a small box wrapped in a bow. "It's ocean spray flavored aftershave. Do you think he'll like it?"

"Are you kidding me? He'll love it." Blaine smiled. "He loves receiving gifts- especially from fans."

Tina's face fell slightly. "Oh...does he always receive gifts from fans?"

Blaine suddenly backtracked. "Yeah, but none of them are as well thought out and thoughtful as yours is."

Tina smiled again to Blaine's relief. "Good. Hey, Blaine...what do you think of me becoming your sister-in-law?"

Blaine was taken aback by that statement. "Uh...well...I think that would be great, um...if you and Coop were closer in age..."

Tina's eyes narrowed. "Is that the only problem? Kurt is one year older than you, and you had a crush on somebody five years older than you!"

"Okay, well, considering my only one year older crush and I work out and my five years older than me crush didn't..." Blaine shrugged and looked in horror at Tina's infuriated expression.

"So, what- I'm not good enough for him? Is that what you're saying?" Tina cried angrily.

Blaine held his hands up to calm the girl down. "No. I'm saying that there's a huge age difference between you two. It's just...it's weird. I don't want you to get hurt."

"You mean like now?" Tina asked, sniffing.

Blaine's stomach dropped. "Tina, I'm sorry. I'm just being honest and realistic."

Tina scoffed and threw the box down. "Screw you, Blaine." She stormed out.

Blaine groaned and threw his head back. Neal came up from behind him. "Friendship troubles?" Blaine jumped slightly and turned around.

"Yeah." Blaine nodded. He bent to pick up the aftershave. "Tina brought this for you."

"Awww, that's sweet!" Neal gushed. "Hey, how old is she?"

Blaine narrowed his eyes. "Eighteen. Way too young for you."

"Hey, at least she's legal!" Neal exclaimed. He grinned at Blaine's glare, and chuckled. "All right, Squirt. Don't worry, I'll let her down gently."

Blaine sighed. "Thank you."

"You're welcome!" Neal smiled widely. He watched Blaine gather up his bag and head upstairs. Neal headed back to the kitchen. "So, what do you think?"

"I think wine's a little sour." Mozzie replied. He turned to see Neal, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, you meant pretending to be this Cooper Anderson guy. Well, no one's suspicious yet, so I'd say you're doing pretty good. But what are you going to do once someone becomes suspicious like say his agent?"

"I already spoke to his agent. He buys it." Neal sat down. "I even asked for auditions for crime shows or movies."

"Nice!" Mozzie nodded and smiled. He raised his glass and took a swig. "But, seriously, what are you going to do if someone is suspicious?"

Neal shrugged. "Admit to it. Tell them I did it to protect this family."

"Well, let's hope nobody is suspicious."

"Yeah."

XXX

Kurt sat in a dimly lit office in a shady part of town...

...Nah, just kidding. He's actually in a brightly lit office in downtown Lima.

"I understand that you are the best in this town." Kurt was saying. "I'm hoping we can do this without discrimination."

The man sighed. "Kid, all I care about is money and digging up dirt on people. I don't care if you're gay, straight, bi, transexual, blue, purple, whatever."

Kurt smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Warner."

"Please call me Daniel." Daniel said.

"Daniel." Kurt repeated.

"Why don't you tell me what it's all about?"

Kurt leaned forward. "I think someone's impersonating my boyfriend's older brother."


	5. Chapter 5

Blaine woke up in the morning with sunlight streaming on his face. He yawned, turned over, and opened his eyes. His clock read 8:02. His eyes widened. He's late for school!

"Shit!" Blaine exclaimed, throwing off his covers. He hurried to get dressed and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth, and ran downstairs with his backpack to the kitchen.

"Morning, sleepyhead." Neal said without glancing up from the paper.

Blaine stood and stared at Neal. "Coop, I'm late for school! Why didn't you wake me?!"

"I already called you in sick for school." Neal answered simply. He folded his paper and set it on the table.

"What are you talking about? I feel fine." Blaine shrugged.

"Good. 'Cause I thought we'd have a little ditch day for you." Neal beamed excitedly. "Blaine, you're young. You need to experience these kinds of things!"

"I've called in sick for school before!" Blaine insisted. He set his backpack on a chair and folded his arms. "I-it was way back in Jr. High when I was being bullied, but still..."

Neal raised an eyebrow. "Okay, well, this time is because you need more fun in your life!"

"I've had plenty of fun, Coop." Blaine rolled his eyes.

"Great! You can tell me all about it over breakfast." Neal stood up. "We're going to Denny's!"

Blaine sighed, shook his head, and pulled out his cell phone and wallet and put it in his pocket. He then pulled his cell phone back out to text Sam to cover for him.

XXX

"So, seriously, have you done anything rebellious?" Neal asked Blaine. They sat at a table eating their breakfasts.

"Well, I got drunk...twice." Blaine winced at the memories. "You'd think I'd learn my lesson."

Neal chuckled and shook his head. "Where was this?"

"The first time was at a party, the second one was at a gay bar." Blaine explained.

Neal nearly choked on his coffee. "You went to a bar? Do you still have your fake ID?"

"No. I threw it away." Blaine sighed. "I only had one beer that night, but I was still totally wasted."

"Um...you...can't get drunk off of only one beer." Neal said slowly. "Unless the beer was spiked, or someone filled up your bottle when it was half-empty and you didn't notice."

Blaine just laughed softly and shook his head. Then a thought occurred to him. Kurt did tell him he found Blaine passed out in the middle of the street not far from the bar. He barely had any recollection of the event the day after... he started imagining what would have happened had Kurt not been there at that bar with him, then shook it off. He glared at his 'brother'. "Not a word to Kurt about this."

"My lips are sealed." Neal promised. "So, what else? Come on..."

"Well, I stole extra tator tots when the lunch lady wasn't looking." Blaine smiled at the memory. "Oh- also, the Warblers stole our Nationals trophy, so Sam and I stole it back."

"Nice! How'd you manage that?" Neal asked, impressed.

"We broke into the Warbler's choir room through the window, used a screwdriver to open the case, and just took it before anyone caught us." Blaine answered. "It was...exhilarating. It was an adventure. I never felt more alive."

"As long as you use your powers for good." Neal winked.

"Oh, I do. Don't worry." Blaine chuckled. "What about you? Have you done anything like that?"

"Well, when I was in elementary school, I was always late, so I changed all the clocks accordingly." Neal grinned.

"Without getting caught?" Blaine asked, amazed.

Neal nodded. "That's not all. One year, I completely flunked all my classes, so I forged my report card."

"Wouldn't the school have a record of it, though?"

"I forged that, too." Neal nodded.

"Seriously?" Blaine raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, totally." Neal grinned. He decided to change the subject. "So, are you going on a senior trip?"

"Not unless you count me moving to New York. Did you go on a senior trip?"

"No, but I've travelled all over Europe with my friends. And I've been to Cape Verde, and South America." Neal replied. "Here in the US, I've been to LA, Chicago, St. Louis, New York, and of course, all over Ohio."

Blaine was extremely impressed. "Wow. You've been all over. When did you have time to do all that plus acting?"

"Ah, well...ever since I was eighteen, I've been wanting to see the world." Neal leaned back and folded his arms. "What about you?"

Blaine sighed. "I'm afraid the only places I've been to are Chicago, New York, and LA."

"Oh. Well, you're still young. You'll get to travel places." Neal assured him.

"I hope so." Blaine said. "Kurt and I will hopefully be rich someday."

"You wanna marry him?" Neal asked curiously.

Blaine nodded. "I've been toying with the idea of proposing, but...I'm not sure if this is the right time."

"Oh." Neal nodded. "I thought about proposing once to my ex-girlfriend."

"Oh. What happened?"

"She died in a plane explosion." Neal answered. Surprisingly, he didn't feel emotional about it.

Blaine looked extremely concerned and sympathetic. "Oh, Coop, I'm so sorry! When did this happen? Or- we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I'm just..."

Neal waved Blaine off. "Don't worry about it, Squirt. I've moved on."

"Still...why didn't you call me? I should have been there for you."

"I didn't want you to worry." Neal shrugged. "Besides, you had your own drama to deal with. Something about a Sadie Hawkins Dance?"

"Which time?" Blaine raised an eyebrow.

"Uh...your first one?" Neal asked.

"Oh." Blaine nodded. "Well...we weren't exactly close back then, anyway, but...I still would have been there for you. It must have been really hard."

"It was, but...like I said, I moved on."

"That's good." Blaine smiled. He sighed quietly. "What if he says no? If I do propose?"

"I don't see why he would." Neal raised an eyebrow. "He's so in love with you."

"You mean besides the fact that I cheated on him? He probably thinks that I'll do it again." Blaine lamented.

Neal was shocked. "Why would you cheat on him?"

Blaine exhaled sharply. "I thought he was moving on in New York. I know this sounds pathetic and needy, but, he... it just seemed like I didn't matter to him any more."

Neal nodded in understanding. "So...why didn't you just break up with him?"

"I was irrational and just plain stupid." Blaine said simply. "I'm just grateful he forgave me and is able to move past this."

"That's good that he forgave you." Neal said. "But can I ask you something?" Blaine nodded. "How come you didn't call me? I would have been there."

"Yeah, well...you have your acting job in LA. You don't need to tend to your crazy, gay, little brother."

"Still, that's what brothers are for!" Neal exclaimed, holding his arms out. "I would have dropped everything to be by your side. You should know that."

Blaine's eyes brimmed with tears. He was so...touched. He's never said that before. "Thanks, Coop."

"You're welcome." Neal smiled and hoped that that is what Cooper would have said. "All right, this is getting too chick-flicky for me." They both laughed, unaware that someone was watching them and taking a picture.

The onlooker pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. "Hey, Clark, is Cooper still tied up?"

"Yeah,why?"

"'Cause I'm looking at him through a window right now."

XXX

Cooper groaned quietly. His arms were killing him and he was weak from malnutrition. He sighed deeply and wondered just how worried his family was. Blaine just went through a school non-shooting, now he was kidnapped. Yeesh. The Hortons have less drama in less than a month!

...Yes, he watches Days of Our Lives. Don't judge.

Anyway, his captors came in with a syringe. "All right, we're just gonna take a blood sample from you."

"Shouldn't I have more food in my body before you do that?" He asked tiredly.

The kidnappers ignored him, and took his blood. "Thanks." They left.

XXX

Carole hummed as she cleaned up the kitchen. Burt was at the shop, Finn was away at school, and Kurt was home for Spring Break. A phone rang from the counter and she recognized it as Kurt's phone. She picked it up and frowned at the unfamilliar number. Kurt came thundering down the stairs.

"Thanks, Carole, I got it." Kurt said breathlessly, and took the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Kurt. It's Daniel."

"Hi." Kurt walked into the living room. "Did you get my check?"

"Yeah. I also found out that Cooper did not have cosmetics surgery, nor was he in South America last summer." Daniel replied.

Kurt stiffened. "O-okay...so...what does that mean?"

"It's too early to tell without more information." Daniel sighed. "We can get more info, but I need your help."

Kurt glanced towards the kitchen to make sure Carole wasn't listening. "What do you need me to do?"

XXX

"I gotta admit, Blainers, you're more awesome than I thought you were." Neal nodded and smiled. The two were back at home. They had spent the day going skeet shooting and to the arcade.

Blaine ducked his head and laughed. "Come on..."

"No, you are! Really." Neal sighed. "I just wish I'd been there for everything. I haven't been the best brother."

"Eh. You could be worse." Blaine smirked.

"All right, don't be a smart-ass." Neal rolled his eyes. His phone rang. "Oh. I gotta take this. Excuse me." He went into the den. "Hey, Peter. What's up?"

"So...I had someone check the daily student roll at McKinley High School. Blaine didn't show up today." Peter said lightly.

"We had a ditch day. So what?" Neal shrugged.

"I thought we weren't going to corrupt him?"

Neal scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Please. He's already on the path to corruption before I came in his life. Stealing tator tots, stealing back Nationals trophies, calling in sick when he really wasn't."

Peter rolled his eyes. "All right. On a different note, we narrowed Cooper's location down to ten buildings."

Neal exhaled. "Good. Have the kidnappers called James yet?"

"Nope." Peter shook his head.

"Okay. Well, like I said..."

"Keep you posted." Peter nodded. "Good night."

"Night." He hung up, sighed, and leaned his head back and murmured. "How long do I have to keep this up?" He turned and opened the door revealing Blaine with a confused expression on his face.

"Hey. Who were you talking to?" Blaine asked.

"Uh, my agent. He got me an audition for a crime show."

"Oh. CSI?" Blaine guessed.

"Yeah." Neal smiled. "I don't know when it is exactly, but..."

"Well, congratulations." Blaine smiled and hugged him. "Hey, to celebrate, I'll make your favorite: chicken enchiladas!" Neal tried not to wince. He hates chicken enchiladas. "Okay, I'll get started!"

Neal waited until Blaine was in the bathroom before entering the kitchen. The enchiladas were already in the oven. The timer said there was thirty minutes left, so he changed it to forty-five minutes. The rice in the saucepan was on medium, so he turned it on high, then he bolted from the kitchen. Hopefully the kitchen won't catch fire, but the dinner will be damaged enough to not eat.

XXX

A half hour later in front of the Andersons', Kurt sat in his car. He took a deep breath. Daniel instructed him to go through Cooper's room to find any incriminating evidence to prove someone's impersonating him. He had to think this through. Okay, so they're gonna have dinner then a movie...

Kurt pulled out his phone. "Hey, Santana? I need you to do me a favor, and you don't get to ask why."

"Okay. What?" Santana asked, confused.

"I need you to call me in ninety minutes." Kurt replied.

Santana huffed. "Fine. But you owe me an explanation."

"Okay, thanks." Kurt said and hung up. He sighed, got out of the car, grabbed his duffel bag, and walked up the steps. After ringing the doorbell, he heard footsteps. Cooper answered. Kurt tried to look happy. "Hey."

"Hey!" Neal greeted. He gestured for him to come in, and turned towards the kitchen. "Hey, Blainey! Your boyfriend's here!"

Blaine ran from the kitchen beaming widely. "Hey, baby!" He swung his arms around Kurt and kissed him.

"Hey." Kurt greeted. He sniffed. "Is something burning?"

Blaine's eyes widened in horror, and he turned towards the kitchen. Smoke was lightly drifting into the living room. "Oh, no." The three men ran to the kitchen. Blaine turned the oven and the stove off. Kurt opened the kitchen windows and turned on the fan, and Neal opened the back door and propped it open with a chair from the dining room. The enchiladas were blackened, and the rice had black specks all over. He groaned and suppressed a sob of despair. He sniffed and slapped the cooking sheet on the stovetop and sank to the floor.

Kurt knelt down next to his boyfriend. "Oh, Blaine. It's not the end of the world. You should've seen my kitchen after I tried to make chicken cordon bleu! Disaster."

Blaine exhaled sharply. "I know...but...I just really wanted to make this dinner special for Coop. He got an audition for a role in CSI."

"Really?" Kurt's eyes widened. He stood and faced Neal. "CSI, huh? Congratulations. I'm impressed."

"Oh, thanks. I'm totally gonna get that role." Neal grinned.

"What role are you auditioning for?"

"My agent doesn't know yet. He'll let me know tomorrow." Neal lied.

Kurt studied his face. He didn't look like he was lying... "Okay. Cool."

Blaine sighed and stood up. "I'm sorry, Coop."

"Hey, no prob, little brother." Neal smiled. "It happens."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "What- no critism?"

"I was taught to never kick a man when he's down." Neal nodded.

"Oh." Kurt nodded, too. He remembered reading a survey Cooper did on Facebook. Cooper hates pizza. "Well, we could always order pizza."

"Oh. Well, you two can have the pizza. I'll just make something." Neal said.

"You don't like pizza?" Kurt asked.

"No." Neal shook his head. "It's...too fattening."

"Is that why you ate a whole New York cheesecake last time you visited?" Kurt asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, after that I had nightmares of me dying young of a heart attack or blowing up like a balloon the size of planet Earth, and exploding." Neal lied.

Blaine shook his head and chuckled. "Always the drama king."

"Hey, says the guy who thought his boyfriend was moving on just because he didn't pick up his phone every five seconds!" Neal teased.

Blaine blushed and glared warningly at Neal. "Shut. Up. Cooper."

"Shutting." Neal smiled and headed to the freezer. "Hmmm...what do we have here?"

Blaine turned to Kurt. "I'm so sorry. I'll...I'll order the pizza."

"Okay." Kurt hugged Blaine. "Mmm. Don't beat yourself up, okay?"

"Okay." Blaine said, smiling and hugging back.

XXX

An hour later, the trio went into the living room and popped in a movie. After about three slices of pizza each, Kurt and Blaine were full. Kurt had taken off his sweater and slung it over the couch. He pulled Blaine into his lap and kissed his head and held him. Blaine snuggled contently against Kurt and sighed. They stayed like that until Kurt's phone buzzed in his pants.

"Ooh." Kurt said softly. He cleared his throat and gently pushed Blaine off. He grabbed his sweater and held it in front of his crotch.

Blaine chuckled slyly. "Well, well."

"Yeah. Um...I'm...just gonna go to the bathroom." He got up. "Oh- also, I left my products at home. Can I use yours? I'm gonna change into my pajamas and get started on my nightly routine."

"Oh. Um...sure." Blaine stood up.

"Oh, Blaine, I don't want you to miss this movie on account of me." Kurt smiled. "Come up when it's over. I'll be fine."

"Okay. If you're sure." Blaine sat back down and stared after his boyfriend.

"What was that about?" Neal asked, raising his eyebrow.

"I'm not sure." Blaine answered with a confused expression on his face.

XX

Kurt went into Blaine's room and breathed. He pulled out his phone. It showed he had one missed call and one voicemail. He walked over to his bag and pulled out plastic gloves and put them on. He then walked to the bathroom, turned on the light, and closed the door. Making sure neither Blaine or Cooper were coming upstairs, Kurt snuck into Cooper's closed bedroom and took a deep breath. He started rummaging through his dresser drawers. So far, nothing. He moved on to the nightstand. Nothing suspicious there, either. He checked the desk. Yep, you guessed it: Nothing. Kurt exhaled and sank to the floor. Maybe he was being paranoid and overprotective of Blaine. Then he saw a duffel bag in the corner near the bed. Cooper doesn't own a duffel...he crawled over, looking over his shoulder to listen for voices or footsteps. Inside the bag were a bunch of neatly folded what looking like designer clothing. Blaine previously told him Cooper doesn't wear designer clothes or own a fedora, which was sitting in a corner. He felt under the clothes and in the pockets and found a wallet. Kurt nearly had a heart attack when he saw that the ID didn't say Cooper Anderson. It said Neal Caffrey.

'Okay...okay, don't panic. I-it could be a fake ID.' Kurt thought. Shivers ran up and down his spine. He put the wallet back where he found it. He felt the side pockets and froze when he felt a gun inside. Kurt felt nauseated. 'Okay. That doesn't mean he's a criminal. A lot of people own guns for protection.' He swallowed and jumped when his phone rang. "Santana?" Kurt covered his mouth when he whimpered out his friend's name.

Santana was immediately concerned. "Kurt? What's wrong?"

Kurt took a deep breath to steady his voice. "I think someone's impersonating Cooper."

"Based on what?" Santana raised an eyebrow.

"Cooper had his appendix taken out a few years ago...I saw him shirtless the other day, and he did not have a scar." Kurt replied. He sighed. "Then I hired a private investigator who found out that Cooper did not have cosmetics surgery."

"So? He could be covering it up with makeup and didn't want to tell anyone." Santana shrugged.

"That's what I thought. Then I searched through his room." Kurt explained. "That's why I asked you to call earlier- I had to fake an orgasm to get away from the two."

Santana snickered. "Oh my God. You faked a boner to search his room? Really? This is what we've come to?"

"Will you please let me finish?!" Kurt hissed.

"Sorry. What'd you find?" She asked.

"A duffel bag filled with clothes Cooper would never wear, a New York state driver's license with the name Neal Caffrey and a birth date five years before Cooper was born, and a gun." Kurt said. He could hear the movie going downstairs.

Santana gasped. "Oh my God. It's like a gay One Tree Hill."

"What are you talking about?"

"A psycho pretended to be Peyton's brother." Santana explained.

Kurt's heart pounded loudly and he started sweating. "Oh my God..."

"Okay, Kurt? Calm down." Santana instructed. "Now...what are you going to do?"

Kurt heard the movie stop. "I gotta go. Blaine thinks I'm moisturizing." He hung up. He was shaking, but he managed to get up and walk to the door. He opened it and gasped when he saw 'Cooper' standing at the door looking puzzled.

"Kurt?" Neal asked. "What are you doing in my room?"

"Uh..." Kurt stammered, frantically thinking up a lie. "I... I was looking for something of yours to keep as a souvenier and for you to autograph. T-to remind everyone I know a celebrity."

"Oh." Neal nodded. "Why didn't you just ask?"

"You were busy." Kurt laughed softly.

"Watching a movie I could've paused." Neal noted. "Did you find anything?"

"Uh, no." Kurt shook his head. "Um...nothing really...stands out, you know?"

Neal nodded. He noticed beads of sweat forming on Kurt's forehead. "Are you hot?"

"What?" Kurt asked.

"You're sweating." Neal replied.

Kurt brushed at his forehead. "I just have overactive sweat glands is all." He cleared his throat. "Excuse me." He walked past Neal and almost ran into Blaine. "Oh!"

Blaine was surprised to see Kurt outside his brother's room. "Hey...what are you doing?"

"I just wanted a souvenier from Cooper." Kurt smiled and nodded. "But I thought against it, so..."

"Okay, wait...why didn't you just say something earlier downstairs?" Blaine wondered.

"I didn't think about it." Kurt chuckled uncomfortably.

Neal was even more confused. "O...kay, then. Good night, you two." Neal walked into Cooper's room and shut the door.

Blaine took Kurt's hand and started leading him towards his room. Kurt got an idea. He had to keep Blaine away from this guy as much as possible. "Um...hey, Blaine, can we sleep over at my house tonight?"

Blaine turned to him in confusion. "Why? We're already here, I'm tired, really no sense in us going to your house and you dropping me off here in the morning."

Kurt bit his lip nervously and sighed. He couldn't tell Blaine yet about what he found out. He swallowed. "Okay. You've made your point. Let's go." They headed to Blaine's room, got into their pajamas, and crawled into bed. Kurt lay on his back with Blaine laying on top of him. Kurt wrapped his protective arms around Blaine's torso and held him close. He can't lose Blaine. He already almost lost him once during the school (non-)shooting. Blaine fell fast asleep within minutes, but Kurt's eyes were wide open staring at the door nervously, half-expecting 'Cooper' to burst through it holding his gun. Soon, sleep overtook Kurt, and he fell asleep.

Kurt was dreaming of his and Blaine's future wedding, when the door being kicked open woke him and Blaine up. There stood Cooper/Neal Caffrey aiming his gun at them. The two lovers shot up.

"Coop?" Blaine asked nervously. "What are you doing?"

'Coop' aimed his gun at Kurt and shot him in the stomache. Kurt gasped and felt blood.

Blaine gasped loudly and stared at his brother in horror. "What the hell, Cooper?"

"I'm not Cooper." Neal replied. "Your brother is dead, Blaine. I'm just impersonating him."

"What are you talking about?" Blaine asked in a hushed whisper.

"I killed him." Neal said simply.

"You...what? Why?" Blaine's voice shook.

"To get close to you." Neal said simply. He set his gun down, and straddled Blaine.

"What are you doing?" Blaine asked with fear in his voice. Neal grabbed Blaine and started raping him. Blaine cried and tried fighting him off.

Kurt couldn't move. He could only watch in horror. "No...no! Get off of him! Leave him alone!"

Blaine woke up to Kurt tossing and turning and whimpering in his sleep. Blaine turned on the light and turned towards Kurt. Tears were streaming down his face, his face ghostly white, his mouth wide open as though trying to breathe. Blaine shook him gently. "Kurt? Kurt, wake up. You're having a nightmare."

"No...no..." Kurt cried in his sleep. He started gasping. He was quiet for a few seconds, then he shot up screaming "NOOO!"

Blaine jumped slightly and started rubbing Kurt's back. "Hey...hey, you're okay. It was just a bad dream."

Kurt exhaled and wiped his tears. Blaine pulled him into a hug. "It felt so real."

"Shhh. It wasn't." Blaine said soothingly. He rubbed Kurt's back. "It was just a dream."

Kurt sighed. He jumped and pulled away from Blaine when the door opened.

"Hey. I heard screaming." Neal said with a concerned expression. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes. I just had a nightmare, but I'm fine." Kurt said testily. "So, you can leave now. Good night."

Blaine stared at Kurt in shock, then turned to Neal. They exchanged confused looks. "Okay...good night." Kurt turned to his side and dropped down. Blaine continued staring at him.

"What was that about?" Blaine asked. "You were kind of rude."

Kurt sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just tired."

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Blaine asked.

"No. Now, good night." Kurt said tensely.

Blaine stared at his boyfriend in shock for a few more seconds, sighed, and went to sleep himself. 'What is with him tonight? Did something happen?'


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, Kurt woke up to find Blaine gone. He stiffened. 'Oh, dear God, he kidnapped him!' And then Blaine walked back into the room. Kurt hid a sigh of relief. "Morning."

"Good morning to you, too." Blaine went over to Kurt and kissed him. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah. A little." Kurt smiled. He cleared his throat. "Sorry. I guess I'm just…you know…stressed about my dad."

Blaine caressed Kurt's cheek. "I know, baby. He'll be all right. Now…come on down. Cooper's making breakfast!"

Kurt snapped up and tried not to look nervous. "Cooper's making breakfast?"

Blaine chuckled. "Yeah, I had that same reaction. Don't knock it til you try it, I guess."

"Yeah…" They went downstairs into the dining room. Three plates of pancakes, sausages, and eggs were already on the table along with orange juice.

"Breakfast is served!" Neal announced, smiling. "I hope you like your eggs sunny side up."

"Yeah, it's fine." Kurt replied pulling out a chair for Blaine. He sat down. 'Oh dear God, what if he poisoned the food?' He watched nervously as Blaine ate his food and swallowed. He cleared his throat. "So, Blaine, um…I was thinking…after we you know, get married, I was thinking of having at least one boy and one girl."

Blaine looked at his boyfriend in surprise. "Okay. Sounds reasonable."

"I even thought up names: Connie for a girl. Neal for a boy." Kurt said, casting a glance at 'Cooper' to see his reaction.

Neal just smiled calmly. "I like Connie. Connie Anderson-Hummel. It has a nice ring to it."

Blaine chuckled. "Well, I like both names, but let's say we get married first before thinking about that."

"Oh, of course." Kurt nodded. After a few minutes, he decided to at least try eating. After all, if he does get poisoned, he and Blaine will know. The food and orange juice tasted normal. After they were done, Kurt offered to help 'Cooper' with the dishes.

"Oh, Kurt, you don't have to." Blaine said.

"Oh, but I want to. You go ahead and finish getting ready." Kurt smiled. "I'll be fine."

Blaine just smiled and shrugged. "Okay, if you're sure."

"I'm sure." Kurt assured him. Blaine nodded and headed upstairs. Kurt grabbed some dishes and went to the sink where Neal was. "I'm on to you, Cooper. Or do you prefer Neal?"

"On to me?" Neal asked innocently. "What do you mean?"

"I saw your duffel bag…and I looked inside." Kurt admitted. Neal looked shocked. "Spare me the 'invading people's privacy' lecture."

"You told me you were looking for a souvenir." Neal remembered.

"I lied. Not nice being lied to, is it?" Kurt folded his arms.

"I guess not. What exactly do you think I'm lying about?" Neal asked.

"Your name, for one." Kurt said. "I found your wallet. In it is a New York drivers' license with the name Neal Caffrey on it and a birthdate five years before Cooper was born."

"It's a prop ID for CSI." Neal lied.

Kurt looked at him suspiciously. "Is the gun a prop, too?"

"Yes." Neal lied once again, nodding.

Kurt didn't buy it. Instead, he folded his arms and glared at Neal. "I don't know what you're trying to pull, but if you do anything to hurt Blaine, I promise you- you will regret it."

"Okay, one: I won't do anything to hurt Blaine." Neal promised. "Two, let's say for arguments' sake I do do something to hurt him. What would you do?" Kurt stayed quiet. Neal guessed what he was going to say and nodded. "I see. Kurt, not everything- especially in the real world- can be solved by singing."

Kurt's eyes flashed with anger. "Oh. Well, then I guess I'll just shoot them in the head. How's that?"

"I'm not saying you have to do that, either." Neal said, holding his hands up. "I'm not even saying you should beat them up. I'm just saying you should be a little more creative in bringing down those who hurt you or people you care about. You know, nothing illegal, but damaging enough to hurt them."

Kurt nodded and paused for a minute, thinking. "Okay. Fine. How's this: My father is a congressman. He has the ear of the President of the United States. He can banish you to a third-world country that's not so American-friendly. Is that a good enough threat?"

"Actually, yes. Now, if only you used that against the guy who put your boyfriend in the hospital." Neal commented.

That did it. Kurt smacked him across the face, hard. His hand stung. Neal whipped to the side, clutched his stinging cheek, and sighed. They both heard footsteps and turned to see Blaine walking into the kitchen.

"Hey." Blaine greeted, confused. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Kurt lied. He cleared his throat. "I am going to finish getting ready. Excuse me." He headed upstairs.

Blaine watched after his boyfriend in bewilderment. What was going on? He remembered what happened the night before…Kurt was in Cooper's room, he was nervous about something, he wanted to spend the night at his house, he had a nightmare, he was rude to Cooper, he was nervous this morning, he slapped Cooper…

Blaine turned to glare at his 'brother'. "What did you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, don't act all innocent! Kurt has been acting strange since you found him in your room." Blaine stood an inch close to Neal. "Did you…did you hurt him?"

"No!" Neal exclaimed, surprised. "I can't believe you'd think I'd do that."

"Then why is he acting so weird?" Blaine asked, throwing his arms out.

"I wish I knew." Neal shrugged. "Did he get a call from someone and it upset him, maybe?"

Blaine exhaled and shook his head. If Cooper wasn't the problem, then what was? "Okay. I'm sorry I pointed a finger at you."

Neal just shrugged and shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I'd probably do the same."

Blaine smiled, glad this didn't create yet another rift between the two. He was about to say something, when Kurt rushed back into the kitchen looking freaked out and worried.

"Blaine…my dad just called. He said he was called in for an emergency appointment." Kurt said, his voice shaking.

Blaine walked over to Kurt and hugged him. "It's gonna be okay. Come on."

Neal watched them leave and waited until the door was closed before pulling out his phone. "Peter."

"Hey. We're closing in. We now have only three buildings to look into." Peter announced. "Cooper's gotta be in one of them!"

Neal exhaled sharply. "Thank God. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."

"Remember- this was your idea in the first place." Peter pointed out.

"Yeah, I know. It's just a little harder than I thought it would be." Neal sighed. "Blaine's boyfriend is getting suspicious."

"Based on what?"

"He was in my- well, Cooper's- room last night, and he's been acting weird ever since." Neal explained. "He confronted me this morning. He found my ID and my gun, Peter."

"Hmm. Smart kid." Peter complimented.

"We may have caught a lucky break, though." Neal continued. "His dad is on the way to the hospital. He may be distracted for a while. Hopefully long enough for us to get Cooper back."

"Hopefully." Peter replied. "What do you think got him suspicious?"

"I don't know." Neal shook his head. He sighed. "I need to get in touch with my dad, so….talk to you later."

"All right. Bye."

XXX

Clark and Phil headed to Cooper's holding cell. Phil held onto a small stack of photos. Cooper looked up to see his captors entering the room.

Phil sighed. "Well, this is a slightly embarrassing predicament. Turns out, you were telling us the truth all along."

Cooper sighed in relief. "Great. So, does this mean you're gonna let me go?"

"Not quite yet." Phil replied. "Looks like our guy- Neal- has been masquerading as you." He threw the photos of Neal and Blaine on his lap.

Cooper looked at the photo in shock. 'This guy is pretending to be me? Oh, God, I hope he's not ruining my reputation….or planning on hurting Blaine.'

XXX

Later that day, Kurt sighed and flopped on the couch. Turns out the doctors accidentally switched Burt's test results with another patient. Burt is in remission. With the cancer drama over with and done, Kurt pulled out his phone to call Daniel.

"Hi. It's me." Kurt said. "I searched Cooper's room, and I found a duffel bag filled with clothes Cooper would never wear, a gun, and a New York driver's license with the name Neal Caffrey on it."

"Okay. Wow. That's good info there." Daniel replied. "All right. I'll do a little research and call you back."

"Okay. Thank you." He hung up and sighed. What is going on? Why is this Neal masquerading as Cooper? And where's the real Cooper? Locked up in a basement somewhere? Someone rang the doorbell. Kurt stood up and went to answer it. "Santana?"

"Yo, Kurt." Santana greeted. "May I come in?"

"Sure." Kurt stepped aside to let her in and closed the door.

Santana sighed. "So, any updates on Robo-Coop?"

Kurt chuckled at the reference. "Well, my PI is checking up on the name I saw on the ID. He's gonna call me back."

"Oh. What uh…what did Blaine say when you told him all this?" Santana asked.

"I haven't told him yet. Not until I know more." Kurt replied. Just then, his phone rang. "My PI." He told Santana. "Daniel. Hi."

"Hi. So…Neal Caffrey is an ex-con artist turned CI for the FBI. He was arrested for art theft and forgery."

Kurt stiffened and his heart beat fast. "So…you're telling me that this guy Caffrey is impersonating Cooper?"

"Yep. I will alert the FBI after we hang up. But we need to act as if nothing's wrong so as not to spook Caffrey before the FBI can do anything." Daniel replied.

Kurt stared at his phone in shock before replying. "An ex-con artist is impersonating my boyfriend's older brother, and you expect me to act normal?!"

"Yes, because you'll be endangering your boyfriend and quite possibly your friends and family if you let on something's wrong." Daniel replied. "I'll call you as soon as I hear from the FBI."

"Fine." Kurt hung up and sighed. "I'm totally not gonna act normal."

"As per usual." Santana smirked. "So, what's your plan? I mean, since singing obviously won't work."

"I don't know!" Kurt exclaimed. "All I know is performing arts and fashion!" He collapsed to the ground and suppressed sobs. Santana stifled a giggle. "Oh, shut up!"

Santana raised her hands. "Okay, okay. Why don't we start with telling Blaine the truth?"

Kurt exhaled sharply. "Yeah. Yeah, that'll work."

XXX

James was freaking out. The kidnappers had just called him, and finally asked for something in exchange for Cooper/Neal. He went to the Anderson's and rang the doorbell.

"Dad? What are you doing here?" Neal asked.

"The kidnappers called me." James announced. "Are you alone?"

"Yeah. Come on in." Neal stepped aside. They went into the living room. "What'd they want?"

"The evidence box in exchange for, well, Cooper." James replied.

Neal sighed and shook his head. "The box that would prove your innocence."

"Exactly." James nodded. "We can't give it to them."

"What? Dad, if we don't, they'll kill Cooper." Neal said in shock.

James sighed in frustration. "I know! How are things going here?"

"Well, there was a hitch, but I think it's over with." Neal admitted.

"What hitch?" James asked nervously.

"Blaine's boyfriend Kurt is getting suspicious." Neal answered. "He saw my duffel bag and looked inside."

James paled. "What? How could you let this happen?"

"I wasn't careful enough. I'm sorry." Neal replied, slightly taken aback.

"Okay. I'm sorry I snapped. It's just…"

"It's okay." Neal smiled. "Well, I managed to fend him off. Plus, his dad just had a medical emergency, so he'll be distracted."

"That's not enough. He still could go to the police." James said worriedly.

"I doubt it. He doesn't like the police for some reason…" Neal mused.

"I don't think you understand the severity of the situation." James went on. "We need to take care of him."

Neal stared at his father in astonishment. "You're not suggesting we kill the kid? Dad…this guy has a family! His father has cancer. He already lost his first wife, his second wife might lose her second husband, and you wanna kill their son, too? And…I know what it's like to lose someone you love. I don't want to put Blaine through that."

"I understand." James said, trying hard not to lose his patience. "But I don't want to take that chance. If this kid Kurt calls the police, everything will be ruined. Neal, we have to kill him."

They heard a small horrified gasp and turned to see Blaine standing in the entryway. Neal turned to him calmly, and James tried not to freak out.


	7. Chapter 7

Blaine stared at Neal and his companion in shock and horror. He tried to remain calm and swallowed. "What's going on, Cooper?"

"We're…running lines from the CSI episode I'm in." Neal lied. "This is my scene partner Sam Phelps."

James smiled and extended his hand. "Nice to finally meet you, Blaine. Your brother won't stop talking about you."

"Nice to meet you, too." Blaine shook his hand and raised an eyebrow. "And…really?"

"You kidding? He acts like he's the only person in the world who has a brother!" James laughed. Neal glared at him.

"Funny. I seem to remember you acting like you're the only one in the world who has a son." Neal smirked.

"Oh, you have a son?" Blaine asked James.

"Uh, yeah…his name is-is Danny." James smiled.

"Oh." Blaine nodded.

"So, how did Kurt's dad's appointment go?" Neal asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, that. Actually, it's kind of funny, but not ha-ha funny." Blaine shook his head. "His test results somehow got mixed up with another patient. Burt's in remission."

"Well, I definitely feel sorry for the other patient. But I'm happy for Kurt and his family." Neal smiled.

"Me, too. You know…" Blaine walked to Neal and put his hands on his shoulders. "You've grown in the last year. You're not as egotistical, hypercritical, and self-centered as you used to be. I'm proud of you."

"Hold me, Blaine. That was beautiful." Neal said sarcastically. They both laughed and Blaine slugged him playfully.

"Anyway, Kurt and I are going to celebrate. I'll let you rehearse." Blaine said. He turned to James. "Nice meeting you." He left.

Neal walked a few paces before turning to James. "Okay, so Kurt might not be distracted any more."

"You think?" James raised an eyebrow. "He could be on his way to a police station now."

"Didn't you hear Blaine? He and Kurt are just going to celebrate." Neal reminded him. He sighed. "Although, he might tell Blaine what he knows…"

"I wonder if he'll believe him." James thought aloud.

"I'm not sure…" Neal sighed. "But we are getting closer to finding Cooper. They narrowed it down to three buildings."

"Great." James smiled, relieved.

"Great. So, don't harm Kurt. You don't want to make it worse." Neal stared warningly at his father.

James exhaled and closed his eyes. He reluctantly nodded. "Okay."

"Okay. Good." Neal replied. "I'll keep working with Peter. In the meantime, you work on getting that evidence box."

"I know exactly where it is." James replied. "I'll call you."

"All right. Later."

XXX

Clark ran frantically to Pratt. "We have a problem."

Pratt sighed. "What is it?"

"Someone hired a private investigator to look into Neal, who is impersonating Cooper." Clark replied. "I looked it up. A Kurt Hummel hired him."

Pratt thought for a minute. "Hummel…as in Congressman Burt Hummel?"

"Yep. His son." Clark nodded. "You know him?"

"No, but I know his reputation." Pratt replied. "Hmm. If this Kurt kid goes to the police…"

"Then everything's screwed." Clark finished.

"Precisely."

XXX

Blaine rang the doorbell to the Hudson-Hummel homestead. Kurt answered. "Hello, Blaine. Come on in." Kurt said seriously.

"Hi." Blaine answered. He stepped inside. Santana was there, too with her arms folded. "Uh…what's going on?"

"We need to talk…about Cooper." Kurt replied.

"And…you need Santana here, too?" Blaine asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Kurt dragged me into this shit." Santana replied. "Might as well see how it plays out."

Kurt glanced at Santana, then turned to his boyfriend. "I thought Cooper had been acting strange, so…I hired a private investigator to look into him."

Blaine was shocked and taken aback. "So you started a witch hunt in my family?"

"I snuck into Cooper's room and found a duffel bag filled with clothes Cooper would never wear, a fedora, a gun, and a wallet with a New York driver's license with a birthdate five years before Cooper was born, and with the name Neal Caffrey on it."

"So? Those could be props for CSI!" Blaine exclaimed. "Kurt, what possessed you to look into my brother?"

"Okay- you told me that Cooper had his appendix removed a couple years ago." Kurt said. "I saw him shirtless a couple days ago, and he did not have a scar. The next night, your dinner burned…it might have been Cooper. How else would it have burned?"

"He could have gotten plastic surgery, and I wasn't paying attention to the dinner, so, it's my fault." Blaine folded his arms.

Kurt sighed. "I had my PI look up Neal Caffrey. He is an ex-con artist, Blaine. He's impersonating your brother!"

Blaine shook his head and turned around. It couldn't be true! But…what Kurt said made sense. That would explain why Cooper acted so differently this past week…Blaine shuddered slightly and his heart quickened. "I have to go."

"Blaine, wait- where are you going?" Kurt asked.

"I just need time to think." Blaine replied. "I'll be fine." He kissed Kurt, and left.

Kurt sighed and folded his arms. Santana walked up behind him. "Well, that went better than I expected."

"Yeah…"

XXX

Neal walked upstairs to Cooper's room and called Peter. "Okay, so, update time: the kidnappers called James. They want the evidence box for Cooper."

Peter exhaled. "Figures. Is James going to get it?"

"Hopefully." Neal nodded. "I also told him that Kurt's getting suspicious."

"And what'd he say about that?" Peter asked, nervously.

Neal hesitated. Should he tell him the whole thing? "He's worried, of course. I just really hope Kurt doesn't go to the police."

"And what will James do if he does?" Peter asked.

'Dammit!' Neal groaned inwardly. "Um, well, he kind of…wants to like…prevent that from happening by, ah…doing something drastic, but I talked him out of it."

"How do we know he won't do it anyway?" Peter asked.

"Come on, he's harmless." Neal rolled his eyes.

"Mm. You mean like Kate and Alex?" Peter raised an eyebrow.

Neal stared at the phone in shock and huffed. "Wow. And you wonder why I nicknamed you Burke the Jerk."

"Sorry. That wasn't fair. I apologize." Peter said sincerely.

"Apology accepted." Neal replied.

Peter went quiet for a minute. "Neal, I think it's best if you just tell Blaine the truth. If his boyfriend is suspicious, he probably already told him, and we're closing in on Cooper, anyway."

Neal snorted and laughed. "Yeah. Right. I'll just waltz right up to Blaine and say 'Hey, Blaine, how's it going? Oh, by the way, I'm not really your brother. I'm an ex-con artist turned CI. Your brother was mistaken for me and was subsequently kidnapped'." Neal turned around and froze in horror as he saw Blaine with the same expression. Blaine suddenly ran to his room. "Peter, I'm gonna have to call you back." He went to Blaine's room, knocked, and opened the door. "Blaine?" He walked in, and was punched to the ground. Blaine pulled him up and pinned him against the wall. "Wait- wait!"

Blaine breathed heavily and looked furious. He then uttered the question Neal had feared for ever since he started masquerading as Cooper.

"Where is my brother?" Blaine asked. "WHERE THE HELL IS HE?!"


	8. Chapter 8

Blaine doesn't trust a lot of the adults in his life. Who can blame him? They either yell at him, blackmail him, don't care about him, or lie to him. He never thought someone would go as far as to pretend to be someone he cares about!

Neal raised his hands to calm Blaine down. "I don't know. The FBI has three buildings narrowed down."

"Why was he kidnapped in the first place, and why did you keep this from me? From my parents?" Blaine asked, still pinning Neal against the wall.

"He was mistaken for me." Neal explained. "Look, I can explain everything."

"How do I know you're telling me the truth?" Blaine said, his voice shaking. "Everything you've told me was a lie! You pretended to be my brother! That's completely inexcusable!" He paused for a minute and his eyes opened in realization. "Oh my God! I gave my freaking alarm code to you! I bore my soul! Is anything about you real?"

Neal took a deep breath. "Yes. I really did go to South America last summer and got shot in the leg, I really did have a girlfriend who died in a plane explosion, and I really did change the clocks at my school when I was younger."

Blaine scoffed and shook his head. Then another realization came to him. "You and your…friend were talking about Kurt earlier. You told me Kurt is a character on CSI. When he said you have to kill him…you meant my boyfriend Kurt, didn't you?"

"That actually is my father. And I talked him out of killing Kurt. He won't lay a finger on him." Neal assured him. 'I hope.'

"How do you know he won't anyway?" Blaine exclaimed, panicking. He ran into his room, grabbed his phone, and quickly dialed Kurt. He exhaled sharply. "Come on, Baby, pick up." After three rings, he was starting to panic even more.

"Blaine?" Kurt said on the other line.

Blaine exhaled sharply in relief. "Kurt. Thank God."

"What's wrong?" Kurt asked worriedly.

"Neal told me everything." Blaine sighed. "Well, not everything, but…he told me that Cooper was mistaken for him and kidnapped."

"He could be lying, you know." Kurt said.

"Yeah, I know…" Blaine heard a car pull up and went to the window. "Oh, hey, I think the FBI is here."

"Really? How convenient." Kurt remarked.

"Don't worry- I'll go in with both eyes wide open." Blaine promised.

Kurt sighed in frustration and threw his head back. He wants to trust Blaine, but…still…what if something happened to him. "Okay. An FBI agent is coming over to get my statement about Neal. I'll come over right after that."

"Okay. Love you." Blaine replied.

"I love you, too."

XX

Neal opened the door. "Diana, Peter. Good, you guys are here."

"Well, I'm assuming that Blaine found out you're not really his brother, so I figured we'd come and explain." Peter replied.

"Yep. Well, I told him that Cooper had been kidnapped and…that my father was worried Kurt might go to the authorities." Neal announced.

"All right." Peter said. He glanced towards the stairs, where Blaine was walking down towards them now wearing a shirt. "Blaine?" Blaine nodded. Peter pulled out his badge. "I'm Agent Peter Burke. This is my partner Agent Diana Barrigan."

"Nice to meet you." Blaine said politely. "You'll understand when I tell you that I am going to call the FBI office to make sure you're legit."

"Sure. Go for it." Peter replied.

"Thank you." Blaine got out the phone book and called the FBI. Agents Barrigan and Burke checked out. They also told him Neal really is working with the FBI. That relaxed him a little. He then went into the living room and sat across from them and sighed. "Okay. What the hell is going on?"

The trio explained everything from the beginning. Why Neal was in Ohio, why Cooper was mistaken for him, and everything else in between. "We couldn't tell you or your parents about it, because if the kidnappers knew Cooper wasn't really Neal, they'd kill him."

Blaine exhaled sharply. "Okay…you are pretty close to finding him, right?"

"Very." Peter nodded. "We know what building he's in. We just need to plan a rescue."

"Great. How can I help?"

"Blaine, this is a very dangerous situation." Peter explained gently. "You could get hurt or worse."

"So?! He's my brother!" Blaine exclaimed angrily. "I can't just sit here and do nothing!"

"Blaine, put yourself in Cooper's position. What would you want him to do if you were the one who was kidnapped?" Diana asked.

Blaine just turned around and shook his head. He hated being in this situation. "Can I at least call my parents to let them know what's going on?"

"Sure."

"Thank you. Make yourselves at home." Blaine headed to the kitchen. He found the emergency numbers. They should be in Rome by now. He dialed the number.

"Hotel Cavalier. How may I assist you?" The clerk said in Italian.

Blaine looked at his list of key phrases he wrote down in Italian. "Hello. Mark and Raffi Anderson's room, please?" The clerk connected him, but he got a voice mail. Blaine sighed. "Hey, Dad, Mom. Um…" He swallowed back tears and sighed. "Cooper got kidnapped and ….the FBI are doing what they can to find him. Please come home. Bye." He hung up, buried his head in his hands, and cried softly.

XXX

Kurt heard the doorbell ring and opened it. There stood a tall, lean, African-American man in his thirties in a suit. "Kurt Hummel?"

"That's me. Can I help you?" Kurt asked.

The man pulled out his badge. "Agent Hendricks. Your PI called and told us about what you two found."

"Oh! Yeah. Come on in." Kurt stepped aside to let him in. They sat on the couch.

Agent Hendricks pulled out a pad and a pen. "All right. Why don't we start from the beginning?"

"Okay. Well, I noticed he looked slightly different. Cooper has lighter and shorter hair than Caffrey does." Kurt started. "Um...Cooper is my boyfriend's older brother. He- Blaine- told me once that Cooper had his appendix removed, but the Cooper I saw shirtless didn't have a scar."

"And that's what made you suspicious." Agent Hendricks clarified. Kurt nodded. Agent Hendricks wrote something down, shifted uncomfortably, and cleared his throat. "This is a little embarrassing. But do you mind if I use your bathroom?"

"No. Not at all. It's down the hall, first door on your left." Kurt replied.

"Thanks."

"Sure." Kurt sighed and rubbed his hands. He couldn't help wondering what was going on at Blaine's. He picked up his phone to text him, when it rang. "Daniel. Hey."

"Hey, Kurt. So, I called the FBI and they are going to send someone over tomorrow to take your statement." He said.

Kurt's blood ran cold and shivers ran up and down his spine. "When did you talk to them?"

"I just got off the phone with them, actually." Daniel replied, much to Kurt's horror.

That man in the bathroom wasn't an FBI agent, is he? Kurt heard the toilet flush and swallowed thinking up a plan. "Um…okay, great. Thanks." Agent Hendricks sat back down on the couch. Kurt swallowed his fear. "Okay, bye." He hung up and cleared his throat. "Um, do you want some coffee?"

"Sure. No cream, two sugars." Agent Hendricks nodded.

"Okay. I'll be right back." Kurt walked to the kitchen, heart thudding loudly. How was he going to get out of this? There has to be a nonviolent way to escape! He got out the coffeepot and filled it up with water and coffee mix and put it in the machine. He then took out two mugs. One of them had a chip on the handle from when Burt dropped it one time and caught it before it crashed to the floor. He took out two spoons, the cream, and the sugar. Kurt took a deep breath. Hmm. Doesn't Carole take sleeping pills? Perfect! Kurt checked to make sure the man wasn't watching, and took out a bottle of sleeping pills and dumped three pills into the chipped mug. He got the coffee ready and carried the mugs into the living room. Kurt stopped in his tracks when he didn't see the man. He gasped and stiffened when he felt the barrel of a gun pressing against his head.

"Drop the coffee." The man demanded.

Kurt obeyed. He dropped the mugs in front of him, and coffee spilled all over the floor and his shoes. "Who are you?"

"Someone who wants Neal Caffrey dead." The man replied simply.

"Okay…please, you don't have to do this. There are other ways-" Kurt tried to say.

"Shut up." The man held onto the back of Kurt's shirt and pressed the gun against his back. "Move."

Kurt stepped in the coffee mess and walked towards the front door. They heard a car pull in the driveway. The man pulled Kurt out of view and peeked out the window. Kurt looked too, and his heart leapt. 'Finn!' "I can get rid of him."

The man sighed. He really didn't have time for this, but what choice did he have? "Make it quick."

Kurt nodded and opened the door just as Finn ran up the steps. "Finn! Just in time."

"Hey, dude. In time for what?" Finn asked.

"Carole called me and said she needed a few things from the grocery store." Kurt lied.

"Uh, okay." Finn pulled out his phone. "What does she need?"

Kurt swallowed. He only had one shot at this. Hopefully the man will buy it. "Ham…" Kurt waited for Finn to type it. "Eggs…lettuce…peas…mayo…and…elastic wrap."

"E…las…tic…wrap." Finn typed. "Cool. Is that it?"

"Yeah, that's it." Kurt smiled. "Have fun!" He shut the door and locked it. He heaved a sigh. The man didn't seem to catch onto Kurt's little distress signal.

XX

Finn just stared at the door in confusion. Kurt sure acted weird. Wonder what's going on. Finn just shrugged and headed to his car. He glanced across the street and saw a car he didn't recognize. The people living in the house the car was parked in front of are out of town. Who is that? Finn decided it wasn't important, so he just got into his car and left.

XX

Once Finn was out of sight, the man unlocked the door, and pushed Kurt forward. "Move. Quickly." The man pushed Kurt to his car. Kurt got into the driver's seat while the man got into the passenger side and pointed his gun low at Kurt. "Drive." Kurt complied and started driving. The man pulled out a cell phone. "It's Collins. I have someone who can lead us to Caffrey."

Kurt swallowed back a whimper. He clutched the steering wheel so tight, his knuckles turned white and he was shaking slightly.

He was being kidnapped at gunpoint.


	9. Chapter 9

Tina drove down Blaine's street. She felt bad about their argument from a few days ago. After all, Blaine is practically her only friend now. She parked across the street and saw what looked like a cop car parked in the driveway. Her heart quickened. _'Oh no, did something happen?'_ She jumped out of her car and ran to the door and rang the doorbell. To her relief, Blaine answered the door. 

"Tina. Hey." Blaine greeted, trying his best to sound happy. He was happy to see her, but...with everything going on...

"Hey. I, uh...I came by to tell you I'm sorry I snapped at you the other day." Tina said. Blaine swallowed back a sob and blinked away tears. He pulled Tina into a tight hug. "Oh..." Tina hugged back. "What's wrong? Is Cooper okay?"

Blaine exhaled sharply. "I don't know." 

"Well, what happened?" Tina pulled away looking concerned. 

"It's a long story." Blaine folded his arms. 

"I got time." Tina shrugged. "You wanna talk?"

Blaine nodded and lead her to the porch bench. "Cooper got kidnapped just after he got here." 

Tina was confused. "But he gave us the Masterclass."

"That wasn't him." Blaine explained. "Cooper was mistaken for an ex-con artist turned CI for the FBI."

Tina was appalled. "What?! Why didn't the FBI just tell you and your parents instead of that....Cooperfeit pretending to be your brother?"

"The reason they didn't just tell me and my parents in the first place is because they would have called the police, the kidnappers would have been tipped off, and they would have killed Cooper." Blaine explained. 

"How can you be so calm about this?" Tina asked. "And where's Kurt? Didn't he 'promise' to never neglect you again?" 

"Kurt is the one who figured this out in the first place. The FBI is meeting with him right now, then he's coming over." Blaine answered. Tina looked doubtful. "What?"

"Well...it's just..." Tina sighed. "How can you be so sure? He's broken promises before."

"I also cheated on him before. Doesn't mean I'm going to again." Blaine pointed out. He closed his eyes for a minute. "You know what kills me about this whole mess?"

"What?"

"In these past couple of weeks, Neal- Cooper's lookalike- has been more of a brother to me than Cooper ever was my entire life." Blaine admitted. 

Tina nodded and pulled him into another comforting hug. _'Kurt Hummel, if you are not here within the hour, I will hunt you down and drag your skinny ass down here.'_   
XXX

Finn hummed to the radio as he drove towards the store. He caught Sam walking down a street looking a little weary and pulled over. "Hey, Sam! Want a ride?"

"Sure. Thanks." Sam smiled and climbed into the passenger seat. 

"All right. I just have to run to the store to get a few things first." Finn replied. "Do you need anything?"

"Yeah, actually." 

"Okay." Finn pulled out his phone and gave it to Sam. "Just add it to the list."

"Cool, thanks." Sam opened up Finn's list and scanned it quickly. "Oh, hey, I like how you arranged this to make it easier to remember."

Finn glanced at Sam in confusion. "What are you talking about? I just wrote what Kurt told me."

"Oh. 'Cause if you take the first letter of each letter and read it downwards, it spells out a word. Well, two words."

"Oh, really? Let me see." Finn took his phone back and looked at it. "'Help me'."

"Oh, sure, Dude." 

"No. That's what it says." Finn explained. "It says 'help me'." Finn's face fell into a look of confusion. "Wait..." He remembered back at the house...Kurt looked slightly panicked, there was a strange car parked across the street from their house, plus he only just barely had the front door open. Finn swerved the car around and started driving home. Did something happen to Kurt? He dialed Kurt's number, but only got a voicemail. Finn started getting extremely worried. After a few minutes, Finn and Sam were back at the Hudson-Hummels'. The door was unlocked. Finn barged in. "Kurt?" He called. No answer. 

Sam looked around and spotted two broken mugs of coffee on the floor. "Dude." 

Finn gasped in horror and grabbed his hair. "Ohmygod....oh....my God...." He exhaled sharply and spotted Kurt's phone vibrating and lunged towards it. Blaine's picture showed up on the screen. Finn answered. "Blaine."

"Finn? Are you with Kurt?" Blaine asked. 

Finn exhaled slowly. "No. Um...are you at home?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It's better that I tell you in person." Finn replied, slowly walking to the door, grabbing Sam on the way. "Sam and I will be there in a few minutes."

"Oh. Okay, sure."   
XXX

About a half hour later, Blaine opened the door and let Finn and Sam in. "Hey."

"Hey. Why are the FBI here?" Finn asked. 

Blaine sighed deeply. "It's a long story. Where's Kurt?"

"This isn't going to be easy to say, but..." Finn sighed. Blaine grew more panicked. "Kurt was kidnapped about an hour ago."

"So, that's why he hasn't shown up." Tina commented. Sam and Finn glared at her. 

Blaine froze in shock. He started breathing heavily and shook his head slowly. He backed up to the wall and slid to the floor. His worst nightmare had happened. Tina knelt down and hugged her friend. Neal chose that exact moment to arrive. He saw Blaine's devastated and worried look. "What happened?"

Blaine slowly looked up at Neal. "They took my boyfriend."

Neal paled and sighed. "Blaine, I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen."

"Save your lies, Cooperfeit." Tina snapped angrily. 

Finn furrowed his brow in confusion and looked at Neal. "Wait, what?"

Neal exhaled. "You're friends with Blaine and Kurt, right?"

"Yeah. Kurt's my brother, remember? I'm Finn." Finn replied. 

"I'm not really Cooper." Neal admitted. "Cooper was kidnapped about two weeks ago by men who were after me. They thought he was me. That's why he was taken. Kurt found out about it, and...the kidnappers probably found out about Kurt."

Finn glared at Neal and pinned him to the wall. "Where is he? Where the hell is my brother?!"

"I don't know." Neal said honestly, raising his hands in surrender. "Believe me, I wish I did."

Finn shook his head, released Neal, and walked towards the kitchen. He sniffed and took a deep breath. He pulled out his phone and called Burt. "Hey, Burt, um...I hate to tell you this, but um...Kurt's been kidnapped."  
XX

Blaine slowly stood up and took a deep breath. He cleared his throat. "I'll be in my room. I just need to be alone."

"Okay. I'll make sure no one bothers you." Tina replied. 

"Thanks." Blaine trudged upstairs, walked into his room, closed the door, sat on his bed, and let loose his sobs. After about five minutes, his phone rang. _'Maybe that's Kurt!'_ "Hello?" 

"Is this Blaine?" A strange voice asked.

"Y-yeah. Who's this?" Blaine asked, trying to remain calm.

"I am the last thing your boyfriend will ever see if you don't do as I say."


End file.
